Why not try learning Japanese by reading Japanese folk tales? We will do our best to support you so that you can enjoy learning.
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It's already September of 2022. This year is going to go by in the blink of an eye. Autumn is a time when you can enjoy many things, so if you weren't able to enjoy it much this summer, please try eating delicious food and going out in autumn.
Well, this time as well, I would like to introduce a story to help you with your studies. I hope you enjoy it. What I would like to introduce to you is ``Don't cross this bridge.''
Think before you read.
Have you ever read Japanese folk tales? Also, the word "tonchi" appears in this story. What does "tonchi" mean? If you don't know yet, please think about it while reading.
"You shouldn't cross this bridge"
There was a young monk named Ikkyu at a temple in Kyoto. There was a Go friend of the temple's priest who owned a large shop. This owner had once gotten into a fight with Tonchi Ikkyu at a temple, and wanted to get revenge on Ikkyu.
One day, a messenger came from the master. ``I am always indebted to the temple.I would like to entertain the priest, so please come with Ikkyu-san.''
The priest was happy and took Ikkyu to his master's mansion. In front of the magnificent mansion, there was water flowing and a bridge built over it.
The monk was about to cross the bridge, but he stopped when he saw a sign in front of the bridge. The sign said, ``Do not cross this bridge.''
When the priest read this, he got angry and said to Ikkyu, ``You're inviting people and you're asking them not to cross this bridge? What are you thinking? That's ridiculous, Ikkyu, I'm going home.''
However, Mr. Ikkyu, who was looking at the sign, said, ``It's okay, Osho-sama,'' and confidently walked through the middle of the bridge and entered the mansion. Osho-san was surprised, but hurriedly ran after Ikkyu-san.
The owner, who was watching this, jumped out and said to Ikkyu-san.
"Oh, you didn't read the sign?"
“No, I read it properly and crossed.”
“Then, what did the sign say?”
“It says, don’t cross this line.”
"Then why did you cross the bridge?"
My husband thought he had gotten Ikkyu into it, but Ikkyu-san responded quickly.
``The sign said not to cross the edges, so I crossed in the middle.''
The husband had no words to respond to Ikkyu-san's rudeness.
How was it?
I think some people understand the meaning after reading it once, and some people don't.
"You must not cross this bridge" means "You must not cross this bridge." So why did Ikkyu cross the bridge so confidently? Maybe if I read it again I'll understand, but I don't understand at all! If you are interested, please take a look at the explanation I will be writing soon.
The sign on the bridge had written in hiragana, ``Do not cross this edge.'' The master and the monk thought it was a ``bridge,'' but Ikkyu thought that the ``bashi'' was the ``edge'' and crossed the bridge in the middle. It's true that "You shouldn't cross this bridge" and "You shouldn't cross this edge" have completely different meanings. You can immediately tell the difference between ``Hashi'' and ``Hashi'' when written in kanji, but they are the same when written in hiragana. You can see from this that learning Japanese kanji is very important. I'm sure some of you think that memorizing kanji is difficult or tedious, but there are some words in hiragana that you don't know the meaning of, so be sure to study kanji hard to avoid mistakes! !
The word "tonchi" appears in this story. Tonchi means quick wit. People like Ikkyu who are able to quickly respond to any trouble that may arise are called ``a quick-witted person'' or ``a quick-witted person.'' There are many other stories about Ikkyu-san in Japanese folk tales. It's very interesting, so I'll introduce it again.
Today, I introduced a story called ``You Shouldn't Cross This Bridge.''
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