Let's read a famous fable in Japanese. The story "The Traveler and the Bear" teaches us what true friendship is.
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By the way, are you all enjoying your Japanese learning?
I would like to share a story with you this time. I would be happy if I could learn a little bit from everyone.
This time, I would like to introduce "The Traveler and the Bear". And today's theme is "Friends". This "Traveler and the Bear" is a famous "fable". A fable is a story that tells a life lesson that you can learn from after reading it.
After reading this story, it would be nice to write down what you thought. Also, after this story, I will introduce some Japanese related to friends, so please read until the end.
"The Traveler and the Bear"
Two men were traveling together.
I walked steadily, and one day I came to a mountain road.
"Once we get over this mountain, let's take it easy."
"Yes. Let's take a bath and have a delicious feast."
While saying such things, the two of them were walking along the mountain path.
After a while, they met a woodcutter in the forest.
The woodcutter said to them,
"Don't go down this mountain road. There is a terrible bear. You should turn back."
The two looked at each other.
But he said he was fine.
"We are not afraid of bears."
"Yes, if a bear appears, we'll drive it away together. After all, we're good friends, so if we work together, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"Then you can do whatever you want. I pray that you can cross the mountain safely."
The woodcutter said so and went down the mountain.
"Hey, don't worry."
After saying that, the two climbed up the mountain road.
Suddenly, a large bear appeared with a rustling sound from the grass.
"Wow, there's a bear!"
One hurriedly climbed a nearby tree.
However, the other failed to escape.
So I hurriedly fell down on the road and pretended to be dead.
I heard that bears don't attack dead people. The bear sniffed around the people who had fallen on the road. After that, when I said something in my ear, it went away.
The person who was climbing the tree saw what was going on and came down.
"Oh, I was worried that you could eat it, and then it would be my turn."
Then he asked the traveler who got up from the road.
"I heard the bear said something to you earlier. What did you say?"
The traveler immediately made preparations for departure and said,
“The bear told me not to travel with a friend who runs away when he is in danger and watches over him from the top of a tree.
With that said, I quickly started climbing the mountain again by myself.
How was it.
It's a famous story, so some of you may know it.
What kind of story was "The Traveler and the Bear"? Also, what do you think you want to convey?
Let's think together in Japanese.
The two travelers got along well at first, but as soon as the bear appeared, one of the travelers left his friend and fled up a tree. When the bear saw it, it didn't attack the remaining travelers and gave them advice. This story is about true friendship being tested when it's hard and when it's hard. A true friend is someone who helps you when you are in trouble. Do you have friends like that too? When you grow up, you don't have many opportunities to make friends, but if you have true friends who can help you in difficult times, you'll want to cherish them for the rest of your life.
From here, I would like to introduce three Japanese words related to friends.
The first is "Inu-Saru no Naka". Dogs and monkeys have long been said to be on bad terms, and this word is also used to mean that they are on bad terms like dogs and monkeys.
Example) Even if those two are in the same classroom, they don't even look at each other. It's exactly like dogs and monkeys.
The second is "like attracts friend". This means that people with the same interests and similar ideas naturally gather and become friends.
Ex) It is said that kind people call friends, but if you only speak ill of others, naturally only those who speak ill of others will gather around you.
The third is "Even close friends have courtesy." It is used in the sense that no matter how good your friends are, if you don't treat them with kindness and consideration, they will not get along with each other.
Example) Opening someone's wallet without permission is polite even for a close friend!
Today, I introduced the story "The Traveler and the Bear" and some Japanese words about friends.
Did you learn any new words or expressions? In Koharu Japanese Language Office lessons, you can feel yourself discovering Japanese in a surprising way and improving yourself.
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