This story came, during my undergraduate days, from Satoshi who’s now world-famous as a children’s book illustrator. (Google him if you’re interested, under Satoshi Kitamura.)
Before Satoshi’s paternal uncle got married and set up home on his own, he lived with his older brother and sister-in-law, which is fairly standard Oriental practice.
There were already early indications of his absent-minded-professor leanings when he’d leave the house on a rainy day with an umbrella and fail to return with it — his sister-in-law was constantly having to buy a new one. Then, he went through a phase of leaving the house without one and coming back with one — for a while, the sister-in-law had enough to open a shop!
There were already early indications of his absent-minded-professor leanings when he’d leave the house on a rainy day with an umbrella and fail to return with it — his sister-in-law was constantly having to buy a new one. Then, he went through a phase of leaving the house without one and coming back with one — for a while, the sister-in-law had enough to open a shop!
After he joined Hiroshima University, he was one day walking across the campus green (surrounded on all sides by university departmental blocks) when he suddenly stopped a student walking nearby and asked, “Did you see where I've just come from?” The student: “Yes, sir, you've just come from the canteen block.” Satoshi’s uncle: “Ah, so I’ve had my lunch then.” (Couldn’t resist a language play here: without the comma, it’d be the Japanese “ah so” [= sort of “oh yes?” in English]. In speech, one wouldn’t hear punctuation marks, so it’d work in the original and the translation version.)
After he got married and set up family, he was driving home one evening when, somewhere in the residential estate where he lived, he suddenly couldn't recall what number his house was. A teenager was walking on the pavement, so he pulled up alongside her, wound down his passenger window, and said, “Good evening. My name’s Kitamura. I’m a professor at the University of Hiroshima. I live around here but I’ve forgotten what my house number is. Might you know?” The girl said, “Yes, you live at No.xx.” Satoshi’s uncle said, “Ah, you know me then?” The girl said, “Yes, I’m your daughter.”
(Japan, 1960s–1970s)
(If you think I’ve made up the above, read my Professor Angus Charles Graham stories in The absent-minded professor.)
(If you think I’ve made up the above, read my Professor Angus Charles Graham stories in The absent-minded professor.)
These stories are really funny. When I got to the last one I was laughing by myself and worrying I might wake up Natalie, who is still asleep. I am going to show them to her when she wakes up.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "last one", did you mean the one about Professor Graham?
ReplyDeleteI was commenting about the various stories in "The absent minded academic". The last one is the one where he did not recognize his daughter. I posted it on my Facebook page, mentioning it came from your blog...
ReplyDelete