>
> Dear all,
>
> A friend, now living in the Isle of Man, has sent me an absolutely
wonderful
> book, "The British Museum Haiku" edited by David Cobb(the British Museum
> Press, London, 2006). The book contains haiku written in hiragana,
> transcribed in Romaji and translated into English, along with Japanese
> artwork from the British Museum collections.
>
> One of the haiku printed in this jewel of a book I found most intriguing.
> It's by Suzuki Masajo (born 1906), and in transliterated Japanese, it
reads:

> **hito wa nusumedo/mono wa nusumazu/sudare maku**

> The translation (by Lee Gurga and Miyashita Emiko) is:

> I have stolen a man/ but never a thing of value/ I roll up the bamboo
blind

> I find it hard to grasp what Ms.Suzuki is trying to say here.Any ideas? It
> looks like a beautiful, if rather peculiar haiku, but I have seldom seen a
> haiku so obscure.

> Cristian
> **

Dear Cristian,
here is now a bit more on this haijin and an alternative translation by
Susumu Takiguchi

I may have stolen men,
but I have never stolen a thing
winding up the rattan blind

1973, Masajo (Tr. Susumu Takiguchi)

http://haikutopics.blogspot.com/2007/01/masajo-suzuki.html


I hope this will help you understand this famous haiku poet! She had a very
active love life !
GABI


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