2018/08/31 Red candles and the mermaid E4

Who's there?

The old couple didn’t know who was knocking on the door. The knocking continued. So the old woman opened the door a little and looked outside. There was a woman standing there. Her face was pale. She had come to buy a candle. Even though it was late at night, the old woman thought about the money she would make. So she didn’t send the woman away. The old woman showed the a box of candles to the woman. Then the old woman noticed the woman’s long black hair. It was wet and shining brightly in the moonlight.

The woman picked up a red candle from the box and carefully looked at it.

Then, she paid for the red candle and left.

When the old woman went back inside and looked at the coins, she found they were seashells. The old woman thought she had been fooled and rushed outside to find the woman. But there was no sign of here her. She was gone.

That night, the weather suddenly changed. The biggest storm that they had ever seen came to their town. The mermaid girl was already on a ship going surf south.

The old man said, Her ship can't possibly make it in this storm.

Night passed, and morning came. There were many broken ships floating in the black sea.

From that time, whenever a red candle was lit at the shrine, a storm came. So people people started saying that red candles were bad luck. The old couple thought they would were been being punihed by the gods, so they closed their candle shop.

Even though red candles were no longer sold, a red candle was mysteriously lit a at the shrine every night. And if you saw this, there would be a disaster, and you were would drown in the sea.

This story spread and no one came to pray at the shrine anymore. The shrine had brought good fortune to the town before, but it was now bringing them nothing that but bad luck. The people of the town wished that they didn’t have this shrine in their town. Sailors on their ships were even afraid to look at the mountain with the shrine.

The northern sea is always scary at night with the waves crashing against the rocks. And on a cloudy night with only a little moonlight, it becomes even scarier. On dark, starless, rainy nights, people saw candlenight floating between the waves. They said the light rose up the mountain and headed for the shrine.

After a few years, no one lived in the town any more and the town disappeared.

2018/08/30 Croatia

Hello. I am the Republic of Croatia. I am an eastern European country on the Adriatic Sea across from Italy. I am about 1.5 times bigger than Kyusyu. And I used to be part of Yugoslavia before it was divided into several countries. My population is about 4.3 million, and my capital city is Zagreb. You'll be surprised to learn that there are more than 1000 islands in my country. And did you know neckties first came from my country? I’m full of wonderful surprises.

I want to introduce to you a World Heritage Site I am proud of. It's a beautiful old city called Dubrovnik. It's so beautiful that people call it the Pearl of the Adriatic. Some people say that you can't talk about heaven before you see this city. It's an old seaport with a long wall around it. All the roofs of the houses and buildings are orange. The orange roofs beside the blue sea are so pretty.

Dubrovnik is located in the southern part of my county. Do you know a type of dog called Dalmatian? It's a dog with a white body and black sports. Dalmatians first came from this southern part of my country. Another fun fact, right?

In Dubrvnik, you can see many wonderful buildings built during the middle ages. One of them is a drugstore that opened in 1317. That’s old, isn't it? There are so many old things here. Even the streets. Some stone streets of Dubrovnik have been polished by many merchants and sailors coming here for hundreds of years. Now the street stones are so shiny that you can see your reflection in them.

Remember that I said that Dubrovnik was surrounded by a wall? It's a long wall, 1940 meters long, that goes almost all the way around the city. It was built from around the eighth century to protect the city. You can visit parts of the wall today.

There has been a rule in Dubrovnik that says, All people should live freely. The people of Dubrovnik thought of war as the biggest enemy against freedom. So instead of fighting with other countries, they made relationships with other countries through trade. They used their position as a port city well. And they made sure no one was a leader for a long time. This protected them from on person having too much power.

You must not sell your freedom for any amount of god. These are the Latin words carved in the entrance of a tower here. Dubrovnik is not just a beautiful city, but it is a strong city. Come and visit me one day.

2018/08/29 The greatest joys of life

Oh, no. Umeboshi?

What's wrong?

I bought this rice ball, and I didn’t think it had anything in it. But it has umeboshi in it.

You don't like pickled plums? They are delicious. Why don't you like them?

Well, they're sour.

There are many other foods that taste sour, too. Like lemons.

I like lemons. The sour taste of lemons is very different from pickled plums. Also, pickled plums are too soft.

There's a hard type, too. It's crunchy like a carrot.

I know, but I don't like that type, either.

Well, I think pickled plums are one of the greatest joys of life.

Do you really think they're so important?

Of course. I love pickled plums. I can't live without them. They are good for you, too. They have lots of minerals.

Umm, does your family have an umeboshi farm?

No. Why?

Because you sound like you're trying to sell me pickled plums. Or are you a fortune-teller? Did you see that I was unhappy in the future because I don't like pickled plums?

No.

Then, why can't you just leave me alone?

Umm, why are you so angry?

I’m not angry. I just don't like people telling me how to be happy.

Okay, okay. Let's change the subject. Are you free this Saturday?

Yes, I am.

Then, let's go on a date. My friend said he could lend me his car.

Great.

We can go somewhere far, like the beach or the mountains.

Actually, there's somewhere I really want to go.

Where is that?

It's a new music hall by the ocean. They have classical music concerts there.  The music hall is beautiful, but you need a car to get there. We can go, right?

Uh, umm.

You don't want to go?

Actually. I don't like classical music.

What? You don't like classical music?

I get sleepy when I listen to classical music. Also, tickets are expensive. I would rather go to a rock or jazz concert.

Classical music is one of the greatest joys of life.

No way. I’m perfectly happy without classical music.

You will be happier with classical music in your life.

How do you know? I think you will be happier if you like umeboshi.

Are we talking about umeboshi again?

Well, you started talking about the joys of life again.

Okay, okay. How about this? I will go to a classical concert with you.

You will?

Yes. So will you try eating this? It's my favorite brand of umeboshi. It has honey in it, so it tastes sweet.

Okay. I'll give it a try. This tastes great. Can I have some more?

Sure, but don't eat it all. Leave some for me.

2018/08/28 The click-clack mountain Part two

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and his wife. A bad raccoon dog always ate the vegetables in their field. One day, the old man caught the raccoon dog. He tied up the raccoon dog with a rope and brought it home. But the raccoon dog killed the old man’s wife while he was away. The old man was very sad and talked about it to his rabbit friend. The rabbit decided to do something about it. He asked the raccoon dog to gather firewood with him.

The two of them gathered a lot of firewood and tied it on their backs. The raccoon dog started walking in front of the rabbit. While they were walking beside a river, the raccoon dog heard a sound.

He said, Mr. Rabbit, do you hear that click-clack sound? What is it?

The rabbit said, I don't know. Maybe it's the click-clack bird of the Click-Clack Mountain singing.

But it was actually the sound of the rabbit using two stones to start a fire.

After a while, the firewood on the raccoon dog’s back started burning.

The raccoon dog asked, Mr. Rabbit, do you smell something burning?

The rabbit answered, That’s the smell of the click-clack bird.

Then, all the firewood on the raccoon dog’s back really started to burn.

Ouch. The raccoon dog ran and jumped into the river, but he had a bad burn on his back.

The next day, the rabbit was making some miso pasete at home.

Then, the raccoon dog came and said, I had a really bad day yesterday.

The rabbit said, Yes, you did. How is your back? I have some good medicine for burns. And he put some miso on the raccoon dog’s back. But the miso had hot peppers in it. The raccoon dog ran home crying, Aw. Aw. It hurts.

A few days later, the rabbit was building a boat out of wood on the beach. The raccoon dog stopped to watch. The rabbit said, I’m going out to sea to catch some fish. Would you like to come with me? The raccoon dog said, Of course I'll come with you.

The rabbit said, My boat is small, so why don't you build one, too? You can dig in the ground and make a boat out of mud.

The raccoon dog worked hard making a boat out of mud. Then, the two of them went out to sea in their boats.

After a while, the raccoon dog’s boat started to break apart.

He cried, Oh, no. But it was too late. He started to go down into the sea with his mud boat. The rabbit said, you'll never hurt anyone again.

The raccoon dog went down to the bottom of the sea and never came up again.

2018/08/27 A&B @ Hiroshima

Thank you, everyone.

I hope you enjoyed our performance. Remember, we are A and B.

I’m Ben. Today, Akito and I are in Hiroshima. There are many tourists here.

Akito, where should we go next? Maybe we can go to Miyajima. It's a World Heritage Site.

Yeah.

Or we can go to see a baseball game. I hear that the team here is really popular.

Actually, there is a place I want to visit.

Where's that?

Umm, somewhere nearby.

Akito looks serious. He starts walking, and I follow him. Soon we come to a place with a small stone monument.

What's this?

This monument is for the people killed or injured by the atomic bomb.

I thought the memorial monument was that arch in the middle of Heiwa Park.

Well, there are many other monuments thoroughout Hiroshima city. This one is for the girl’s school that my grandma went to.

Your grandmother?

Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m from Hiroshima.

Really? I didn’t know that.

When I was a child, I came here with my grandma every year on August 6. It is said that nearly 700 people from school died. That was more than any other school.

That’s so sad.

There are pictures of three girls carved into the stone monument.

The girl in the middle is holding the boxes box with E=mc squared wittten on it. Why?

E=mc squared is a formula that was used to create nuclear energy. The formula is taken from Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Every year, my grandma prayed in front of this monument. She cried every time.

Does your grandmother still live in Hiroshima?

She died five years ago.

I’m sorry to hear that.

When I was thinking about becoming the a street performer, only my grandma told me to follow my dream. Everyone else told me to work at a company. Grandma said, Akito, if you can make people smile, there will be more peace in the world. I know it's not that simple, but one when things get difficult, I remember her words.

Akito, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? We could have come here on August six.

The date isn't so important,

What do you mean?

August six was a terrible day, but we should think about it on other days, too. That’s what my grandma told me.

Ah, I see. Are you going to go visit her grave soon?

I’m planning on going tomorrow.

May I go with you?

Okay, but it won't be so interesting.

That’s okay. I want to pray for her and say hello.

Thanks.

Hey, it's getting dark.

As I think we should start looking for a place to stay tonight.

Why don't we stay at my house tonight?

That would be great. Oh, you should call your parents so they can prepare a big dinner for us.

Don't worry, Ben. I already call them.