WEBVTT - Rise of the Cicadas, Part 4 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:07.120 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:14.440 Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. My 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:15.840 name is Robert Lamb. 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.280 And I am Joe McCormick, and we're back with the 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.160 fourth and final part in our series on cicadas. Now, 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.159 if you haven't heard the first three parts yet, you 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.239 might want to go check those out first. That's where 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.280 we talk a good bit more about the biology of cicadas. 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.040 We've sort of had a special focus on the periodical 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:36.360 cicadas of North America because of a big exciting co 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.839 emergence we had this year in the eastern United States, 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.600 but we've been talking generally about the biology of the cicadas. 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:47.600 In the last episode, we had a really exciting digression 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.400 about a fungal parasite that sort of fills up the 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.360 abdomens of the cicadas and turns them into turns them 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:58.720 into a parmesan cheese dispenser. But today we are back 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:02.400 to talk about some more ideas of cicadas in culture 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:03.360 and in literature. 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.280 That's right. Yeah, As is often the case with our 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:08.880 part fours or even Part fives, this is kind of 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.039 like what's left. What did we not get to or 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.040 what new and weird ideas came up in our research. 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:19.560 So I guess before we get going too much here, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.880 I do want to just touch based on two things 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:23.600 that I thought I was going to talk about more 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.480 but ended up largely ignoring. Or we're looking into a 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.840 little bit and deciding, well, there's maybe not as much 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.120 that I wanted to get into there. But I do 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:37.360 want to point out that there are some interesting accounts 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:43.600 of North American periodical cicadas from the sixteen hundreds at Plymouth. 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:46.520 This is something that was brought up in the latest 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:50.080 book from cicada expert Gen Kritzky, the twenty twenty four 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:54.800 Emergence of the Periodical Cicada, And I just found this 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:56.640 fun quotes, so I'm going to read it. This is 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:00.400 from William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth Colony. This 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:05.760 in his History of Plymouth Plantation, so something like sixteen 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.239 twenty through sixteen forty seven quote and the spring before, 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.480 especially all the month of May, there was such a 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:15.480 quantity of a great sort of flies, like for bigness 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.800 to wasps or bumblebees, which came out of holes in 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.680 the ground and replenished all the woods and ate the 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.200 green things and made such a constant yelling noise as 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.000 made all the woods ring of them and ready to 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.320 death the hearers. They have not, by the English, been 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:36.000 heard or seen before or since. Okay, so I don't know. 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.320 I just kind of like the idea of these these 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.919 guys trying to make sense of these wasp or bumble 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:46.480 bee like creatures that made this racket, and you know, 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:49.520 it just seemed to sort of come out of nowhere 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.840 without previous or latter records regarding them. 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.360 Now, this came up actually in the most recent Listener 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.760 Male episode, or actually maybe in two Listener Male episodes ago. 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:02.640 But I do want to clarify that there are in 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:05.920 fact cicadas in Europe. It's not that there are no 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.480 cicadas in Europe, but they are all annual species. I 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.760 do not believe there are any periodical cicadas in Europe. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:15.640 Yeah, periodical cicadas are a North American phenomena, but we 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.520 do have these rich tradition traditions regarding annual cicadas elsewhere 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:20.079 in the world. 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.720 I believe there are. Actually I was looking at research 0:03:22.760 --> 0:03:26.160 there might be a couple of other possible periodical cicadas 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.760 elsewhere in the world, but they have different periods than 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:29.720 the thirteen or seventeen. 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.239 Yeah, I think there's one that Kritsky brings up in 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.240 this latest book that's being looked at. I go back 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.680 to that episode, but I mentioned it in passing at least. Yeah, 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.680 but again, there are annuals all over the place, and 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:47.480 therefore there are traditions of eating annual cicadas in cultures 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:50.320 around the world. This was another area I thought I 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.080 was going to dive into more. But suffice to say, yeah, 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:57.320 they've long been considered by humans, and you'll find them 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.720 on menus traditionally around the world. But also it looks 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.320 like a lot of the more adventurous restaurants in the 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:07.240 world have been capitalizing on cicicada fever. I was reading 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.080 an article that came out on the website for Smithsonian 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.800 last month by Aaron Borstein titled from Dinner Parties to Restaurants, 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.039 Cicadas are landing in the kitchen. He points out that, yeah, 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.640 they can be prepared numerous ways, often fried, and they're 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.120 generally held to have a shrimpy, nutty taste. I've read 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.920 elsewhere that fresh cicadas have kind of a buttery flavor. 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.000 I can't really speak to this myself, as I've never 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.159 consumed circadas. I have not had the opportunity to do. 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.120 But if the opportunity came up and with somebody who 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:41.000 knew what they were doing, yeah, I guess I would 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:41.680 try it. Why not. 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.920 I'm not surprised that that fried is a common option 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:48.640 for people who don't already have cicadas as a major 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:51.520 part of their diet, because it just seems like, you know, 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.880 you deep fry anything, and it makes it more more acceptable, 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:59.000 you know, like that's like the easy way to introduce 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.240 a new food stuff, and then maybe later you could 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.760 try try different preparation methods. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.960 Now deep frying. Aside, they are apparently not only a 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:11.480 safe food but also pretty healthy. They're supposedly full of 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:16.560 any oxidants, full of protein essential amino acids. So yeah, 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.440 I mean these this article in the Smithsonian, you know, 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.719 makes it sound like, yeah, if cicadas are on the menu, 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.599 give them a try, why not? And then you know, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.200 around the world there are going to be these different 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:29.960 traditions for exactly how you cook them up and or 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.440 what exact seasoning, dipping, exhausces, et cetera might be utilized 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.800 alongside the cicadas. So again, if anyone out there has 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:40.400 personal experience with this, either you know, some sort of 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:44.000 like a modern culinary experience, or some sort of like 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.200 you know, traditional cicada preparation, write in. We would love 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.680 to hear from you. All right now, we've already spoken 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:55.160 a bit about cicadas and mythologies, cicadas and philosophy, and 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.920 I have another fun example here of cicadas as a 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.719 as a teacher or a model for human and behavior. 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.440 I looked at several sources on this, but one of 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.000 the first ones I came across was an article this 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.760 posted on the website of Smithsonian National Museum of Asian 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.640 Art by Jan Stuart back in twenty sixteen. And Stuart 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.080 points out that you'll often find the symbol of the 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:20.719 golden cicada on the headgear of rulers and nobles in 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:27.600 Chinese antiquity, and here they would signify modesty, refinement, and awareness. 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.359 And I think that awareness is in part due to, 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.400 of course, the prominent eyes on the cicada, which are 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:37.359 featured in the artifact Joe. I've included an image of 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:41.240 one of these cicada plaques and numerous examples of these 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:44.160 have been found from this time period in China. This 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.599 is like golden bronze, I believe. But you can see 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.360 the cicada motif there in the center. 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.040 Absolutely. Yeah. So we see a big emphasis on the eyes. 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.280 They're rendered as huge. You see a kind of a 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.560 shortened version of the body with these kind of round 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:03.480 oval wings. And then are these bent lines up above 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.280 the head? Are those supposed to be legs? 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:06.279 I believe? 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.840 So yeah, yeah, it's a very elegant design. It's also ornate, 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:11.760 like it's busy. There's a lot going on. 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:14.920 Yeah. Now this would be from I believe the third 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:19.720 to fourth century, and Stuart points out that this is 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.840 a lot of this is based on the idea that 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.800 the cicada was understood to live high in the trees, 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.360 privy to great views and a lofty existence where it 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:32.160 was thought to subsist entirely upon the dew. So it's 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.200 a it's a creature of vision, a creature of pure diet. 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:37.480 You know, it's it's not eating a bunch of junk, 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.760 it's just eating the dew itself, right, or that's the belief. 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.080 And again lofty, and it has this great view of 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:48.000 everything around it. It's very aware of its surroundings. And 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.440 to a certain extent this is true, not that the 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.680 dow part per se, but the part about cicadas having 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:54.800 excellent vision. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.360 So having a liquid diet. I mean it might not 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.680 be do but the you know, the ones under the 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:03.680 ground they feed off of the rude xylum, and then 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.800 the ones above ground they still just feed off of 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.360 the plant juices from inside the stems. 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.280 Yeah, so there's a certain amount of I think accurate 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:16.360 observation wrapped up in this idea. And you see this 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:20.720 referenced in various forms, but one that I that I 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.600 ran across that I thought was really needed is this 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:26.280 poem Owed to a Cicada. This is by Kauji, who 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.920 lived one two through two thirty two. This was a 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:35.360 poet and calligrapher. And there's an extended part of this 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:37.959 poem there about the cicadas. I'm just going to read 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.800 a part of it. The cicada's nobility is hidden in 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:44.720 the darkest shadows, under the dazzling sunlight of midsummer. It 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:49.720 roams the fragrant forest, not seeking prestige and having few desires, 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:54.360 humming with contentment alone. Its calls, ring out, piercing, lingering, 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.720 like the unwavering hearts of virtuous men, benevolent and kind. 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.080 It does not eat, asking nothing of other creatures. It 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:05.600 purchases high above all and looks down, only drinking the 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.600 freshest dew. Hidden among dense mulberry leaves and sheltered from 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.640 the heat, it sings with joy. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.760 Now there are some differences, but it's interesting what this 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:18.360 has in common with the vision of cicadas propounded by 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:21.080 Socrates and the Platonic dialogue that we talked about in 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:24.040 the last episode, the idea that they do not eat, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:29.240 they only sing, and portraying them as kind of an 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.840 ally of the heavens or as like a holy creature 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.640 in a way. 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:38.160 Yeah, yeah, I think it does. But I also have 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.040 to note that this poem ends up taking kind of 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:41.880 a I don't know if it's a darker turn, but 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.800 it ends up going in an interesting direction because in 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:49.600 full it stresses that, first of all, rulers of the 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.600 world should strive to be like the cicada. Again, these 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.680 are noble virtues, but the poem also stresses that the 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.880 cicada is a creature with many enemies, and it has 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:03.160 a very fixed time upon the summer Earth, with lines 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.400 like to escape all these dangers and avoid capture, it 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:10.400 flees to the Grand Palace, and that as it perceives 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:13.160 its many threats and tries to escape them, quote, it 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.920 succeeds only in tightening its bonds and thus foresees its end. 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:20.560 So it's that kind of nobility that you see in 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.319 some characters in art. That's a kind of a nobility 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.920 in its fragility. It's a doomed nobility. 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.160 Yeah, and it's worth noting that kylege Hear himself was 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.200 apparently something of a political prisoner. He was ostracized from 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.199 political power, so you know, perhaps he's he's channeling. It's 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:40.760 my understanding, he's channeling a certain amount of that understanding 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:46.800 of power and politics and life here now. Stuart also 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:51.440 outlines that the Cicada was heavily associated with resurrection as well. 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:55.800 And these ideas go back pretty long ways, and I 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.760 think it makes sense given the life cycle. As we've discussed, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.400 these are creatures that emerge from the earth, you know, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.280 shed in their dark earth and skins, and then they 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:10.240 climb out, they re emerge, They're reborn from their own 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.920 kind of dead flesh and then take to the skies. 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:18.440 And in Chinese traditions, this was interpreted as a symbolic 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.480 for the transference of the soul after death into a 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:27.480 more transcendent realm. As such, during the Han dynasty, jade 0:11:27.600 --> 0:11:31.720 amulets in the shape of cicadas were apparently placed on 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:35.160 the tongues of the deceased, and I included an example 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:36.640 of one of these for you here, Joe. 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.640 Yeah, it's interesting how it sort of looks like depictions 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.319 of a tongue, like the wings come together and create 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.040 the folds that is often represented going down the middle 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:46.720 of a tongue. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.000 Yeah, the jade is key here as well. Of course, 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.360 it was the most valued of stones through much of 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.680 Chinese history, representing purity and indestructibility, and so it was 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.679 widely used in both decorative and ritual objects. And of 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.360 course I think from like a modern tie in, you know, 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.440 we can't help but think about the moths and the 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.400 silence of the lambs and the death said moths placed 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.880 in the mouth or throat. And then there was also 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.959 a tradition in ancient Egypt for some time where you 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.520 would have a golden tongue amulet placed in the mouth 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.600 of the deceased, supposedly so they could speak when summoned 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.920 before the court of Osiris in the afterlife. But anyway, 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.360 back to Chinese tradition. Stewart also shares a fourth century 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:36.480 BCE Dallas scholar Jong Za covered this in his writing, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.960 wrote about the Cicada. And I read his writing on 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:46.160 this in full and translation elsewhere, and I'm going to 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.640 summarize it here. Basically plays out as follows. So Jongsa 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.679 is walking in the forest when he spots a strange 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.679 bird in the sky. It has large wings, it's kind 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.800 of awkward flying around, it has big eyes. He hasn't 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.600 really seen this kind of bird before, so curious, he 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.000 stalks up to where the bird is perched in a tree, 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.640 and hey, he has his sling shot on him, so 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.120 why not take a shot at the bird? Right? So 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:14.679 he draws in, you know, I mean, it's like, I 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.680 don't know if he's necessarily, you know, looking to eat 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.679 the bird, or it's about studying the specimen more, but 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:22.880 you know, at any rate, it's what he does. He 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.360 gets off the sling all right, and the bird doesn't 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:27.240 seem to notice him, so all the better. This is 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.280 going to be an easy bird to pick off. But 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.520 as he creeps closer, he notices something there in the tree. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:38.600 There's a mantis stalking an oblivious cicada about to strike. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.160 And equally oblivious, the mantis is being stalked by this 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:46.400 strange bird. And oh yeah, and so he and here, 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.679 of course is our Dalis scholar stalking that bird. And 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.800 so he stops at this point and he lowers his sling. 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.720 He feels that the dow is revealed in this scenario, 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:00.720 and he leaves the bird alone. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.199 Oh, I wondered if it was going to end with 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.480 him like looking over his own shoulder, like, what's stalking me? 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.360 Essentially, I mean, that's essentially the thought. And Stuart points 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.760 out that there is a common Chinese saying based on 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:16.880 this quote. As the mantis catches the cicada, the jay 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.440 is just behind, so you know, it's kind of there's 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:25.080 always a bigger fish right right, And indeed, look over 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:29.640 your shoulder before you you take advantage of the oblivious 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:41.960 nature of the birth. Now cicadas are invoked elsewhere in 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.640 Chinese culture, is pointed out by Hayan Lee, a professor 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.320 of East Asian languages and cultures and of Comparative Literature 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.600 at Stanford University, cited in a twenty twenty one m 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:56.160 PR article brewed ten is back or brood x is 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.680 back if you'd rather buy Anita Ollaby, and in this 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.440 one point out that in the sixth century military text 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:08.240 thirty six Stratagems, one of the strategies outlined is shed 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.200 your skin like the Golden Cicada, which entails creating a 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:16.560 decoy by which to escape from an overwhelming or more 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.720 powerful enemy. So I looked up the translation of the 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:24.000 text here, and in translation, it says, when you are 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.960 in danger of being defeated and your only chance is 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.560 to escape and regroup, then create an illusion. While the 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:34.440 enemy's attention is focused on this artifice, secretly remove your men, 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:37.480 leaving behind only the facade of your presence. 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:39.800 Ah okay, So maybe if you're hiding down in a 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.960 bunch of earthworks or something, you simulate activity still going 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:46.480 on there, put up some flags and stuff while you're evacuating. 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.960 Yeah, which you know, this is not really part of 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.080 what's going on with the cicada per se. It's not 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.480 doing this to distract predators. But on the other hand, 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:57.800 it does kind of match up with I think with 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:01.920 our experience of cicadas, often is the case where we 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.880 venture outside and we see something, hope, there's something there 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:07.640 that wasn't there before. It is the cicada's shell. It is, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.680 but where's the cicada that emerged? It is nowhere to 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.760 be seen. It has moved on. Though you do get 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.440 the rare occurrence too of finding both shell and emergent cicada, 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.360 and that is also magical. But sometimes I can see 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:23.040 where it might seem as if, oh, I'm looking at 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.120 the wrong thing. I'm looking at the empty shell. The 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:27.680 tasty cicada has flown off. 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:30.280 Yeah, it got away from me now. 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.640 I was also looking at traditions of the cicada in 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:38.080 Japan and this was I found this pretty interesting. There 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.920 are a couple of different ways to refer to cicadas 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.440 in Japanese. There's a there's semi, which I think is 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.080 the main word for cicada. But then there's also this 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.440 name that is like kana kana, and this is on 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.240 a monopa. This is a This is a name that 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.200 is supposed to sound more or less like the sound 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:01.720 that the the howling, the screeching of the cicadas in 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:07.000 their tree. And more to the point, I was reading 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.439 about this in several different sources that this sound, the 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:15.320 sound of the cicadas, is in Japanese traditions often associated 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:22.160 with melancholy summer vibes, so essentially that summertime sadness, if 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:28.800 you will, and it's it's referenced, you know, throughout various 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.800 examples of Japanese poetry, but also in contemporary pop culture works. 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:37.000 They're also associated with this concept of mujo, the passing 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:42.080 nature of things. And so you see like these overlapping 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.440 ideas referenced in a lot of different Japanese works and 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:46.640 in a lot of different poems. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.879 It's so interesting that you get such different associations with 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:56.160 these creatures. Some are melancholy versus sort of doomed nobility 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.840 versus the kind of care free, summer playful. 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:01.040 Uh. 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.800 There's there's like such such different feelings about the same phenomenon. 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.639 Yeah, yeah, I I do feel like I get this 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.760 idea of cicadas as the soundtrack of summertime sadness, though, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.000 you know, because I do associate it with like oppressive 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.040 heat and like a really bright sun. You know, it's 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:21.560 like everything outside the house is trying to push you 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.760 into the house and maybe make you feel a little 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:29.159 isolated or you're outside and you have no choice in 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:32.240 the matter, and it can be just a little bit overwhelming. Uh. 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:34.639 And then you again compound that with the id like 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.240 the knowledge of what the cicada is doing, that it 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.960 has emerged for this very brief time, and that they're 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.320 all gonna die, but you know they're not gonna they're 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.040 they're not going to be around for the for the 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:44.679 next summer. 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:47.879 I guess I don't. It would depend also on like 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.399 what types of activities you do culturally in the summertime. 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.320 I associate summertime sadness with like having to say bye 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:57.200 to your friends from camp who you're not going to 0:18:57.240 --> 0:18:58.280 see again for a long time. 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:00.320 Yeah, I mean it's kind of like that was is. 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.440 You're not going to see thea again. You'll see different ones, 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.199 but you're gonna have to wait a bit. Anyway, I 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:09.840 wanted to read a couple of examples of Japanese poetry 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:13.399 concerning cicadas in translation, of course. This first one is 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:18.320 by Japanese edo poet Matsuo Basho, and it just goes 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:21.439 as follows, the cry of the cicada gives us no 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:25.359 sign that presently they will die straight into the point. 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:27.520 I like it, you know, And again it is one 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:29.240 of the interesting things about like there, and in a 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:31.639 way it's inspiring. Right they are living life to the 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:32.800 absolute fullest. 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:33.880 They are. 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.040 They are going about it, but they do not have 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:38.280 lung in which to do it. 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:40.119 Yolo, as they say. 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:44.600 Yeah, here's another one. This one is apparently by eighteenth 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:49.399 century samurai poet Yo Koi Yayu. And this one I 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.639 got off of the website Tofu Gou dot com in 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.040 an article titled the Cicada's Song Japan's Summer Soundtrack from 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.359 twenty fourteen. It contains multiple examples of this sort of thing. 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.840 But I always say, and by this particular example that 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:07.679 goes as follows. Again, the Japanese word semi is is 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.800 what this means. Cicada methinks that SIMI sits and sings 0:20:12.080 --> 0:20:16.000 by his former body, chanting the funeral service over his 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:21.159 own dead self. WHOA yeah, which is great because it 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.119 brings to mind, you know, the of course, the emergence, 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:29.840 the shedding of the old skin, the nearness of its demise, 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:34.080 but also like the richness of its sound, that you 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.199 could associate with various emotions and in this case, like 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.520 think of it as kind of a funeral dirge. Yeah, 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.160 I like this one. And there are other examples too, 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:45.880 particularly in this article, you know, where it's like there's 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:49.640 it's not so much a contemplation of the cicada's sorrow 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:53.360 or you know, it's forthcoming demise, but using it as 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:57.840 a metaphor using it alongside considerations of more you know, 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.119 human centric feelings of say, heart break and so forth. 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:03.359 Oh well, that connects to something I'm going to get 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:05.120 into in a few minutes here, because there are more 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:09.160 tragic use of the cicada as an image of tragedy 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:09.600 to come. 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.879 All right, Well, I'd love to hear other examples of 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:17.359 Japanese literature and you know, in cinnamon and pop culture 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:19.720 that invoked the cicada. I think I'm going to be 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:23.560 extra alert for it now, engaging with Japanese cinema and 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:27.879 so forth. Another idea I ran across. And first of all, 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:30.399 I should point out that that Japanese traditions also inherit 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:33.399 some various Chinese ideas about cicadas. You know, some of 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.560 these various virtues that we already talked about including the 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:41.280 idea that not only is the cicada virtuous because you 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:43.080 know it can see far, and it's up in the 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:48.200 trees and it drinks dew, but also it emerges at 0:21:48.200 --> 0:21:51.720 fixed and regular times, so it is faithful. You know, 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.480 it is sincere. You know, other people in your life 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:57.440 are the things in your life. There may be uncertainty 0:21:57.440 --> 0:21:59.600 to them, but you can count on the cicadas. They 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:00.440 always come. 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.960 Well said, well, are you ready to get into some 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:05.040 other cicada stuff? 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:05.840 Let's do it. 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.919 So in the previous episode, I mentioned an ancient Greek 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:15.280 story about the mythological origins of cicadas, which is told 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:19.679 by Socrates in the Platonic dialogue known as the fe Dress. 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:24.280 And according to that story, cicadas were once humans like us, 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:27.760