Isshi's Nursery Rhyme Romance
Isshi arranges nursery rhymes and folktales into modern stories.
Part 5: "Aogeba Toutoshi"
When we respect the nobility
We owe our mentors
Many years have already passed in the garden of teaching
When you think about it, aim strong for the moon in its prime
Now is the time for us to part, goodbye.
We owe our mentors
Many years have already passed in the garden of teaching
When you think about it, aim strong for the moon in its prime
Now is the time for us to part, goodbye.
My Kindergarten graduation ceremony was carried out without my favourite teacher Riko-sensei there, and it really wasn't enough. The pretty and kind but strict teacher had died last week. She'd slipped on a road that still had a trace of snow, and smashed into a guardrail to avoid a collision with an oncoming car. It seems like she died instantly. I heard that news from Tajima, the head of our year. Suddenly, when we were studying, in a voice that seemed like a robot's, he said,
"I regret to tell you, but your homeroom teacher Riko-sensei passed away some time ago."
The girls started crying all at once. I was thinking about whether it was true or a lie. But I felt that I couldn't just keep up the idle chatter, so I talked about it with my friends. But in my heart I wanted it to be a lie. All of my friends were the same, whether they were laughing, crying, or calling the bluff with an unreadable expression. Sagasawa, the class bully, was so astonished that he was looking down and crying. I was feeling like that too, truthfully, but forcing myself to think it was a lie, I was impossibly cheerful.
It was at our teacher's funeral that I realized what Tajima had said was true. Everything reflected in my eyes that day was black and white, and only Riko-sensei seemed like a blooming flower of spring, smiling in her sleep. When they played "Aogeba Toutoshi", the last song for graduating students, suddenly the playback became chaotic. With an intermittent voice, I couldn't hear what was said very well. I was the only one who could clearly hear a voice singing "zaa-zaa-" in the middle of the song. It was the voice of our pretty and kind but strict teacher. Somehow I didn't feel scared by the marvel. Instead I was relieved, and when I noticed it I sang along with her.
I didn't talk about this to any of my classmates. I made it my very own secret. I didn't watch the footage of it afterward, because I'd be sad if that voice wouldn't be in it. I went to prep school for several years after that. And I dropped out of my choice school last year. But I haven't given up. Because now it's my dream to become a splendid teacher.
"I regret to tell you, but your homeroom teacher Riko-sensei passed away some time ago."
The girls started crying all at once. I was thinking about whether it was true or a lie. But I felt that I couldn't just keep up the idle chatter, so I talked about it with my friends. But in my heart I wanted it to be a lie. All of my friends were the same, whether they were laughing, crying, or calling the bluff with an unreadable expression. Sagasawa, the class bully, was so astonished that he was looking down and crying. I was feeling like that too, truthfully, but forcing myself to think it was a lie, I was impossibly cheerful.
It was at our teacher's funeral that I realized what Tajima had said was true. Everything reflected in my eyes that day was black and white, and only Riko-sensei seemed like a blooming flower of spring, smiling in her sleep. When they played "Aogeba Toutoshi", the last song for graduating students, suddenly the playback became chaotic. With an intermittent voice, I couldn't hear what was said very well. I was the only one who could clearly hear a voice singing "zaa-zaa-" in the middle of the song. It was the voice of our pretty and kind but strict teacher. Somehow I didn't feel scared by the marvel. Instead I was relieved, and when I noticed it I sang along with her.
I didn't talk about this to any of my classmates. I made it my very own secret. I didn't watch the footage of it afterward, because I'd be sad if that voice wouldn't be in it. I went to prep school for several years after that. And I dropped out of my choice school last year. But I haven't given up. Because now it's my dream to become a splendid teacher.
Notes:
The 'Romance' in the title doesn't refer to love stories necessarily, but in the more traditional sense of an epic tale.
1 - The verse at the top is the from the Aogeba Toutoshi song. I couldn't find a translation of the song this time, but here's an explanation of it.
The 'Romance' in the title doesn't refer to love stories necessarily, but in the more traditional sense of an epic tale.
1 - The verse at the top is the from the Aogeba Toutoshi song. I couldn't find a translation of the song this time, but here's an explanation of it.