Unagi no kabayaki – うなぎ　かばやき（Grilled eels)

PART 2

JUST few words before starting.

Atama ga ii (頭がいい）- smart, clever

Onaka ga iltuppai  (おなかがいっぱい)　－　full up　

Harau (はらう）- to pay

Jyodan (じょうだん) – a joke, a kidding

Saifu (さいふ） – a purse, a wallet

Okana (お金) – money

Hi, fu , me, yo, itu, mu, nana, ya – the old way of counting something- one, two , three, four, five, six, seven, eight

Te – (手)　－hands

Kikimasu – （聞きます）- ask/listen

「Take this invoice to Hachigoro and get the money for the bills」

「Yes Sir.」

While he was heading to Hachigoro’s house slowly holding the invoice, he thought.

「Hachigoro who eats the rice with the smell of the grilled eels is stingy but my master who says to get money for the smell is also meanie. 」

「How cleaver I am eating delirious meals without spending any penny. 」

When Hachigoro was full up he lied on his back in the room.

Sadakichi who came to Hachigoro’s house said reluctantly with unenergetic voice.

「I’m Sadakichi at the opposite Unagi ya. This is the invoice for eels so far. Please pay money.」

Hachigoro is upset and said

「The opposite Unagi ya? You must be kidding. I have never ordered Unagi 」

Sadakichi knows that his master is staring at him behind so he said courageously.

「We know that you take the smell of the grilled eels as the side dishes and eat your rice at your home. This is the invoice for that.」

Hachigoro thought for a while and nodded and said

「I see. Understood. let me pay.」

Sadakichi said happily.

「Really! Could you pay me?」

Hachigoro smiled,

「Of course. Wait a second」

Hachigoro took his purse out of his pocket and then counted the money and lined them up slowly in front of Sadachiki.

「Here you are, look at closely. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight….How about that!」

Sadakichi was puzzling how come this stingy Hachigoro pays but said

「Thank you so much.」

When Sadakichi tried to stretch his hand to the money, Hachigoro said.

「Wait a minute.」

Hachigoro gathered the lined up money quickly and has put them back in his purse

Sadakichi was taken aback and asked.

「What does this mean?」

Hachigoro smirked and then

「I had just smelt the smell of grilled eels. So you should also just have a look at them, that is all.」

said Hachigoro then he quirky despaired inside his house.

The end (owari・おわり）

To families

The interesting point of this nimble story is that even if Hachigoro was asked to pay for the smell of the grilled eels, he never got angry. Instead, he backed the servant boy into a corner by just showing the money. There is a similar story in UK as well.

When I read the end of this story I though Hachigoro is much smarter than the owner of the unagi ya. If I was the owner of the Unagi ya I would just let Hachigoro do what he wants to do because the poor man can not afford to pay. If the man saved lots of money then I might think “Come on Hachigoro, just buy one unagi then”.

Hope you enjoy the story.