[69] _Ma_ (Sanscrit, _Mârakâyikas_) is the name given to a particular class of spirits who tempt men to evil. But in Japanese folklore the _Ma_ have a part much resembling that occupied in Western popular superstition by goblins and fairies. 89.—_Tanoshimi wa hanasimi no motoi._ All joy is the source of sorrow. 90.—_Tondé hi ni iru natsu no mushi._ So the insects of summer fly to the flame.[70] [70] Said especially in reference to the result of sensual indulgence. 91.—_Tsuchi-botoké no midzu-asobi._ Clay-Buddha’s water-playing.[71] [71] That is to say, “As dangerous as for a clay Buddha to play with water.” Children often amuse themselves by making little Buddhist images of mud, which melt into shapelessness, of course, if placed in water. 92.—_Tsuki ni murakumo, hana ni kazé._ Cloud-wrack to the moon; wind to flowers.[72] [72] The beauty of the moon is obscured by masses of clouds; the trees no sooner blossom than their flowers are scattered by the wind. All beauty is evanescent. 93.—_Tsuyu no inochi._ Human life is like the dew of morning. 94.—_U-ki wa, kokoro ni ari._ Joy and sorrow exist only in the mind. 95.—_Uri no tsuru ni nasubi wa naranu._ Egg-plants do not grow upon melon-vines. 96.—_Uso mo hōben._ Even an untruth may serve as a device.[73] [73] That is, a pious device for effecting conversion. Such a device is justified especially by the famous parable of the third chapter of the _Saddharma Pundarîka_. 97.—_Waga ya no hotoké tattoshi._ My family ancestors were all excellent Buddhas.[74] [74] Meaning that one most reveres the _hotoké_—the spirits of the dead regarded as Buddhas—in one’s own household-shrine. There is an ironical play upon the word _hotoké_, which may mean either a dead person simply, or a Buddha. Perhaps the spirit of this proverb may be better explained by the help of another: _Nigéta sakana ni chisai wa nai; shinda kodomo ni warui ko wa nai_—“Fish that escaped was never small; child that died was never bad.” 98.—_Yuki no haté wa, Nehan._ The end of snow is Nirvâna.[75] [75] This curious saying is the only one in my collection containing the word _Nehan_ (Nirvâna), and is here inserted chiefly for that reason. The common people seldom speak of _Nehan_, and have little knowledge of those profound doctrines to which the term is related. The above phrase, as might be inferred, is not a popular expression: it is rather an artistic and poetical reference to the aspect of a landscape covered with snow to the horizon-line,—so that beyond the snow-circle there is only the great void of the sky. 99.—_Zen ni wa zen no mukui; aku ni wa aku no mukui._ Goodness [or, virtue] is the return for goodness; evil is the return for evil.[76]