A Woman Called Shizu

 Oh, and then the following also happened. Once when my mother was ill, Auntie attended a parents’ association meeting in Mother’s place. The teacher wrote in large letters with chalk on the blackboard:
                                                                          COLD
                                                                           LAUGH
                                                                           FUN
Then the teacher, dressed in a black uniform with a closed collar, orderred the students: ‘Write the opposites of these words.”
  
  Parents and brothers of the students were lined up at the back of the room. Most of them were mothers, and they all smiled as they proudly watched their children diligently writing words on their papers. I was conscious that Auntie was there in place of my mother, standing in a formal kimono and wearing a serious expression on her face.
  Convinced that the opposite of ‘COLD’ was ‘DLOC’, I wrote ‘DLOC’ on my paper. I put down ‘HGUAL’ as the opposite of ‘LAUGH’. Stupidly, I was persuaded that ‘opposite’ meant to read the words backwards.
   ‘Now, show us your answers.’
I handed my paper in to the teacher along with everyone else, then sought out Auntie wiht my eyes and grinned at her. It was a signal that I had got them all correct.
  The upshot hardly needs to be mentioned. With a grimace, the teacher read aloud my answers and those of one other student, sending the mothers into gales of laughter.
  ‘It’s all reight. Don’t worry about it.’ Auntie tried to buck me up as we walked home. ‘Everyone makes mistakes like that when they’re young. Even I did.’
 
       ~Endo Shusaku, “A Woman Called Shizu”

Advertisement