Hukumusume fairy tale collection > Foreign language (English) > Short stories of Edo

I Heard One Even Earlier

(Short stories of Edo)

Translation　ちいさな翻訳屋さん

Make Origami ( ORIGAMI CLUB) Plum tree 　Bird

Japanese　←→　Japanese ＆ English　←→　English

　A man heard a Bush-warbler, which flew onto a plum tree in his garden, sang in a beautiful voice for the first time in the year.

　So he went to the next door with a proud look and said,

“I’ve just heard this year’s first song of a Bush-warbler in my garden.”

　But the man next door said,

“Yours sang late. Mine has been singing since the day before yesterday.”

　The man who lives across the street overheard the conversation and said,

“That’s late. Hearing one in April is late. I heard one at The end of last month.”

　Just then, a very competitive retired man who lives around the corner passed by and said,

“What? Last month? That’s late.”

“Wow, only you could say that. So when did you hear one?”

　The retired man proudly answered,

“Don’t be surprised. I heard one last spring.”

The end

　One-point Advice
　A Bush-warbler, called uguisu in Japanese, is a symbol of the spring.

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