(continued from yesterday)
I left the mountain brook and started to walk towards the middle-aged man's voice. The road was covered with dirt, and the evening sunshine was casting an orange light on it. "Ooi" the middle-aged man called again. From the loudness of voice, it was clear that he was quite near me now.
I walked on, and from behind the curve in the road, the middle-aged man appeared. I saw him, and he saw me. I swung my butterfly net to and fro, pretending to search for a butterfly. Then I had nothing to do. I now had to look into the middle-aged man's eyes,
"Why didn't you answer back?" The middle-aged man said, with somewhat rough breath. "Why didn't you answer back, when I called you? I called you many times. Why didn't you say something?"
I could not answer. I could not answer, as I did not know the answer myself. I did not know why I had not yelled back to the calls of "Ooi." I did not know why I felt shy and wanted to hide from the middle-aged man. I did not know why I wanted to be alone in the forest.
"I am sorry." was my feeble answer. "I was chasing the butterflies and...." I almost felt like sobbing. The middle-aged man smiled. "It is all right. Now that I have found you safe, everything is all right. But we need to go to the bus station very quickly now. Otherwise we have to spend the night in the mountains".
Having something to do was such a relief. I hurried, almost ran, to the bus station. The emotional crisis was over.
As I galloped though the path, I started to laugh. I could not suppress the impulse. I laughed peevishly first, trying to hide the big smile from the middle-aged man. Finally, I could stand it any more. I burst out, and the middle aged man, who was running beside me, laughed heartily, too.
(End of this essay)
9 comments:
As always, a brilliant piece.
By the way, you should write a book on how to master English for us Japanese.
Is our current methods employed in our school system really fit for the purpose? If not, then what other methods we should consider? and so on.
With your own expericence of reaching the current level of English, it is my gut feeling that you'll make a handsome amount of money out of it.
As for "The Office" article on your Japanese page, below is a useful list of British sit coms compliled by the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/winner.shtml
The list has greatly helped me to pick and choose which sit com DVD to buy.
Enjoying these sit coms has been enormously helpful in understanding the UK culture and English.
Great! It unfolded admirably beyond my expectations.
At first I thought the subject of "hiding" was simply Panchala ganesa loomisi, and foresaw that it would not appear. However, my interst was turned toward the depth of the boy and the forest.
In that stage "hiding" got three subjects like a reflective triple mirror, a rare butterfly, the boy and the forest. The forest had been hiding the whole of itself.
Surprisingly, I found the fourth in chapter 4. The middle-aged man. He had been looking for the missing boy out of goodness. The louder he yelled, the more the boy disappeared. Then he might awake a boy under himself. Remember, he was such a man that entered the forest for a butterfly.
It was an emotional scene that the boy was showered with questions and felt like sobbing. The man might be angry and happy to meet the boy, the other mystic self.
Human feelings are complicated.
The treasure hunting gave him an insight about himself.
Thank you for your highly personal essey.
Well,I'd like to give a trophy to the boy's mother who had a brave heart to let him go alone.
Only the beautiful butterfly knows the reason why...
Almost a poetic novel. Marvelous!
Dear:Mr.Mogi
I think that people can not answer everything.
Because we have feeling from spirit,mind and body.
I feel relief at your smile and your friend's big smile in this essay.
It is very difficul to know what was in your mind as a 12 year old boy.
But I am very relieved to know the middle-aged man smiled at you.
Lovely!
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