Kiyo said it was not so;
Asai ate always Hubbard squash of "uranari" [2] and that was the reason.
Thereafter when I saw any man pale and fat, I took it for granted that
it was the result of his having eaten too much of squash of "uranari."
This English teacher was surely subsisting upon squash. However, what
the meaning of "uranari" is, I do not know. I asked Kiyo once, but she
only laughed. Probably she did not know. Among the teachers of
mathematics, there was one named Hotta. This was a fellow of massive
body, with hair closely cropped. He looked like one of the old-time
devilish priests who made the Eizan temple famous. I showed him the note
politely, but he did not even look at it, and blurted out;
"You're the man newly appointed, eh? Come and see me sometime,
ha, ha, ha!"
[Footnote 2: Means the last crop.]
Devil take his "Ha, ha, ha!" Who would go to see a fellow so void of the
sense of common decency! I gave this priest from this time the nickname
of Porcupine.
The Confucian teacher was strict in his manner as becoming to his
profession. "Arrived yesterday? You must be tired. Start teaching
already? Working hard, indeed!"--and so on. He was an old man, quite
sociable and talkative.
The teacher of drawing was altogether like a cheap actor.
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