Let's read a story called "Imoshogatsu"! / Japanese Learning Support LLC
Let's read a story called Potato New Year!
Did you all have a fun New Year's holiday?
Many of you have already started work, so let's do our best this year!
So today I'd like to tell you a story related to New Year's called "Imo New Year."
Please enjoy until the end!
"Potato New Year"
Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Shigesaku and his mother.
This man, Mosaku, hated working and always spent his time drinking and having fun.
After playing around for many years, the family finally ran out of money, so he told his mother.
Mosaku: "Mom, I'm going out to work in town."
Mom: Oh, I see. Be careful.
His mother gave him all the money she had saved for him,
Mother: Now go to town.
He said.
Mosaku: "Thank you. I'll go and make a lot of money!"
Three years have passed since Mosaku went to town, but I haven't received a single letter from him.
His mother had been waiting for him to come home.
However, Mosaku did not work at all in town, and instead spent his time drinking and having fun.
New Year's Day arrived, and mother wanted to prepare a feast, but there was no rice in the house.
Mother: "Oh, what should I do? Is there anything I can eat?"
All that's left is a few potatoes.
Mother: "It's better to have at least some sweet potatoes."
My mother went to the river to wash the potatoes.
Then a traveller happened to pass by.
Traveler: "Excuse me. I ran out of food during my journey and haven't had anything to eat for three days. Could you please share some of your food with me?"
Mother: "That's a shame. I only have a few sweet potatoes. Please help yourself."
The mother boiled the sweet potatoes she had at home and gave them to the traveller to eat.
The traveler was very hungry, so he ate it all up.
Traveler: "Excuse me. Can I have another serving please?"
Mom: Yes, please.
Mom started boiling all the potatoes that she had saved for New Year's.
He then told the traveler about his son, Mosaku.
Mother: "You see... I don't need money. I just want to work hard in town and see my son grow up to be a fine man..."
Traveler: "I see... I hope your son comes back soon."
Someone was listening to the conversation outside the house.
This is my son, Shigesaku.
Mosaku had spent all his money over the past three years and had nothing to eat, so he had no choice but to come home.
Mosaku: "Mom... you really felt that way about me..."
After hearing his mother's story, Mosaku felt ashamed of himself and decided to go back to town and get a proper job this time.
Then, inside the house, the traveler said to his mother,
Traveler: "I left my luggage on the mountain, so I'm going to go get it."
Mother: Yes, I'll boil the potatoes in the meantime, so please take your time.
Traveler: Well, I'm off then.
Mosaku hurriedly hid in the storeroom, fearing that he would be found by the traveller.
The traveller climbed the mountain and cried out halfway up:
Traveler: "Are the sweet potatoes ready yet?"
Mom: No, not yet!
Traveler: Have you finished it yet?
Mom: It'll be soon!
The traveller's voice is getting further and further away.
Traveler: Have you finished it yet?
Mom: "I did it!"
Traveler: "Well, please hold the door open and wait!"
The traveller seemed to have gone quite far, and his voice could hardly be heard any more.
Mom opened the door and waited for the traveler to return.
Then suddenly, a strong wind blew out of nowhere...
Vieweeee, vieweeee!
In an instant, Mosaku, who had been hiding in the storeroom, was blown into the air by the wind and fell with a thud in front of the house's door.
Mother: "Oh my! Mosaku! You're back!"
Then, behind Mosaku, a bunch of large bags fell with a bang!
When you look inside, you'll see rice, fish, and a variety of other things inside.
Mom: What's this?
Mosaku: "Well, I don't know either."
As the two of them looked at each other with wide eyes, a voice came from somewhere.
"The sweet potatoes were very delicious. I hope you two live happily ever after."
The mother and the traveler bowed politely towards the mountain.
Mother: "That traveler must be a god!"
Mosaku: "That's right. Thank you, God!"
From then on, Mosaku started working every day and gave his mother lots of delicious food to eat.
How was it?
It was a New Year's story called "Sweet Potato New Year."
Now let's learn some of the grammar that appears in this story!
This time I would like to introduce the grammar "~yara~yara."
The text said, "When you look inside, you'll find rice, fish, and a variety of other things inside."
What does this grammar mean?
"Yara yara" is used when giving examples to mean "There are many different types of A and B."
It has the nuance of being cluttered and busy with all sorts of things.
Therefore, it is usually used in negative situations.
Sample1 I've been busy with exams and part-time work lately.
Sample 2 The room is messy with unwashed clothes and candy scraps.
Sample 3: When I go drinking with that senior, I end up hearing complaints, rumors, and other things I don't want to hear.
Sample 4: Hay fever is so awful because it makes my eyes itchy and my nose runny.
On the other hand, the sentence in the main text, "It contains rice, fish, and many other ingredients," does not have such a negative connotation.
So why can we use "~yara~yara"?It's because it describes the situation where "the rice, fish, etc. are not organized, and a lot of items are jumbled together in several bags."
In this way, you can use "~yara~yara" when you want to describe in detail a messy or disorganized state.
This grammar is very similar to "toka toka", but "toka toka" doesn't have any particular messy meaning.
So it can be used neutrally.
Sample 1 I bought tea and rice balls at the convenience store.
Sample 2: Languages from similar Asian regions, such as Chinese and Korean, are easy for Japanese people to learn.
Sample 3: If you have that much of a fever, why don't you go to the hospital or take some medicine?
Sample 4 At the sports day, I'm thinking of doing things like the 100m sprint and jumping rope!
"To and so on" is just giving examples, so it doesn't have a strong connotation that it's difficult because there are so many things to consider.
Everyone, please take a look at these example sentences and master the difference in usage between "~yara~yara" and "~toka~toka"!
Today, we introduced the story of "Potato New Year" and the grammar "-yara-yara."
I hope you enjoyed it.
That's all for today!
See you in the next blog!
