Let's read Ikkyu's old story. You may discover new Japanese words!
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4 more months to go in 2022, and this year will be over in a blink of an eye.
The JLPT will also be held in December, so if you are thinking about taking the exam, study hard for the rest of the period!
In this blog, we introduce stories so that everyone who is working hard to learn Japanese can have fun learning Japanese. Today's story is "Naisho Mizuame". I would appreciate it if you could help me with your study.
This time's story is about Ikkyu, the same as "Don't cross this bridge".
Now, what kind of nonsense will come out this time? I'm looking forward to it!
"Naisho Mizuame"
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ikkyu at a temple.
One night, when Ikkyu-san went out into the hallway to go to the bathroom, Osho-san's room was still lit.
"Oh, Osho-san, are you still awake?"
Thinking that, Ikkyu looked into the priest's room and found the priest licking something deliciously in the pot.
"Osho-san, what is that?"
When the priest noticed Ikkyu-san's arrival, he hid the pot in a hurry.
"Oh, Ikkyu. If an adult licks this, it's medicine, but if a child licks it, it's poisonous. Never lick it."
"I see. I understand."
Ikkyu returned to his futon and thought.
“That must be starch syrup.
The next day, the priest had to go out on business.
"Ikkyuu, you must never eat the poison in the jar in my room. All right."
Saying that, the monk left.
Ikkyu immediately went to the priest's room and looked inside the pot.
Inside is something like clear, glittering water.
Ikkyu tried to lick it. How delicious!
"As expected, it's starch syrup! It's sweet and delicious. Let's share it with everyone."
Ikkyu called his fellow boys and started eating starch syrup together.
Finally, he ate all the starch syrup in the pot.
The boys were worried.
"It's tough, Ikkyu. If you do this, the priest will scold you."
Ikkyu said to the worried boys with a smile.
"Okay, okay, I have a good idea."
Saying that, Ikkyu brought a teacup that was very important to Osho, and dropped it on the floor on purpose and broke it.
"Hey, Ikkyu! Why did you break the bowl? If you do this, the priest will scold you more."
The boys were flustered, but Ikkyu looked calm.
Then the monk returned.
Ikkyu said to the boys
"Look guys. Just pretend you're crying."
"Well, yeah."
When the priest came back, he was surprised to see the crying boy and the broken tea bowl.
"What's wrong! What are you crying for? Ikkyu, please explain."
Then Ikkyu said while crying.
"Well, I broke the tea bowl that the priest treasured so much, so I thought I'd lick the poison and die as an apology."
Upon hearing this, the monk said, "This is done..." I couldn't scold Ikkyu-san and the others.
How was it?
This time too, it was a very clever strategy, and I was able to avoid being scolded by the priest.
Mizuame is a transparent, thick candy that looks like water, and is also used in cooking. It's just a sweet sugar taste, but kids like this kind of candy. I used to eat mizuame and kneaded candy (similar to mizuame, which you eat while stirring) at candy stores.
Did you have a favorite candy when you were a child? Also, did you have a strategy for getting adults to buy it? I would love to hear your stories.
By the way, my strategy was to go in front of the sweets I wanted at the supermarket and just stare at them. As an adult, do you want to eat this? It's a strategy to wait for you to say!
Today, I introduced a story called "Naisho no mizuame".
I hope you enjoyed the story. There is such an expression! I would be happy if there was something I learned.
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