A mother in Japan described her encounter with a dragonfly in the autumn of 1944.A dragonfly had perched on my shoulder, making no effort to move. Its large black eyes seemed sad, and reminded me of my oldest son's eyes. It seemed that my son in central China had brought me news of himself by turning into a dragonfly, which kept gazing at me with a sad look of appeal.
A few months later the report of my son's death reached us. The dragonfly was unmistakably my oldest son. Those eyes were pleading, "Mother, Mother, thank you for everything for so long. I regret having to die without being filial. Please take good care of my younger sisters and brothers." He had come to say his last farewell. If I could, I would like to go to China to embrace my son's body.
日本一個母親敍述一九四四年秋天和一隻蜻蜓的偶遇。
一隻蜻蜓停在我肩膀上，完全無意飛走，黑色的大眼睛似乎很憂鬱，使我想起長子的眼睛。這蜻蜓似是我兒子化身，從華中飛來，給我說近況，一直憂鬱的望着我，若有所求。
幾個月之後，我兒子的死信傳來了。那隻蜻蜓無疑是他變的，用一雙眼睛訴說：「母親，母親，謝謝你多年來給我的一切，可惜我不能活着盡孝。請好好照顧我的弟弟妹妹。」他是來向我最後一次告別。要是可以的話，我真想去中國，擁抱兒子的屍體。