Old lamp
While playing hide-and-seek, Touichi-kun, who was hiding in a corner of the storehouse, came out with a lamp.
It was an unusual shaped lamp.
A thick bamboo tube about 80 centimeters long was used as a base, and a small lighted part was attached to it.
The lamp chimney was a thin glass tube.
To the untrained eye, it looked nothing like a lamp.
So everyone mistook it for an old gun.
Souhachi, the seeker, said, "Ah, a gun."
Touichi's grandfather didn't know what it was for a while.
It was only after he had stared at it through his glasses that he realized what it was.
When he found out that it was a lamp, Touichi's grandfather began to scold the children.
"Hey, hey, what are you bringing out? You never know what a child will bring out if you let them play freely.
They're like thief-cats, I can't be too careful. Hey, hey, bring that here and go outside and play.
There are many things to play with outside, telegraph poles and so on."
When a child is scolded in this way, he understands for the first time that he has done something wrong.
So Touichi-kun, who had taken out the lamp, and the neighborhood children who hadn't taken out anything, all felt as if they had done something wrong.
They slunk out into the street.
Outside, a spring afternoon breeze blew the dust from the road as it passed by.
Sometimes a white butterfly would hurriedly pass by after a slow ox cart.
Telegraph poles stood here and there.
However, children didn't play with telegraph poles.
To a child, it seemed absurd to play with something that an adult had told them to play with, just as they were told.
So the children went off to the park, ticking off the glass marbles in their pockets.
Soon they were playing on their own and forgot about the lamp.
Touichi-kun returned home at dusk.
He found the lamp in the corner of the back living room.
However, he didn't say anything about the lamp.
He thought if he said anything about it, he might be scolded by his grandfather again.
The boring time after supper came.
Touichi-kun leaned against the dresser and clanked the drawer can.
He also went out to the store to watch the bearded professor of the agricultural school order a book with a complicated name like "Theory and Practice of Radish Cultivation".
When he got tired of this, he went back to the living room.
After making sure that his grandfather was not there, he went over to the lamp and tried to take off the lamp chimney, or turned a screw the size of a bronze coin to pull the wick out or pull it back in.
As he was working hard, he was spotted by his grandfather again.
But this time, he didn't scold his grandson.
Grandfather asked sister to make him a cup of tea, and as he pulled out his smoking pipe, he said.
"Tou-bou, this lamp is very nostalgic for me.
I forgot about it for a long time, but now that Tou-bou has brought it out from the corner of the storehouse, I remember the old days again.
When you get old like this old man, it makes you happy to come across old things like lamps or anything."
Touichi-kun looked at his grandfather with a blank expression on his face.
Touichi-kun thought grandfather was angry because he had scolded children, but he was happy to see the old lamp.
"Come and sit down, I can tell you a story from the past." Grandfather said.
Touichi-kun liked stories, so he did as he was told and sat down in front of grandfather.
However, he felt uncomfortable, as if he was being lectured to, so he decided to listen in the posture he usually took when listening to a talk at home.
He lay down and occasionally tap the soles of his feet together.
Grandfather's story was as follows.
- To return to table of contents of Grandfather's Lamp
It was an unusual shaped lamp.
A thick bamboo tube about 80 centimeters long was used as a base, and a small lighted part was attached to it.
The lamp chimney was a thin glass tube.
To the untrained eye, it looked nothing like a lamp.
So everyone mistook it for an old gun.
Souhachi, the seeker, said, "Ah, a gun."
Touichi's grandfather didn't know what it was for a while.
It was only after he had stared at it through his glasses that he realized what it was.
When he found out that it was a lamp, Touichi's grandfather began to scold the children.
"Hey, hey, what are you bringing out? You never know what a child will bring out if you let them play freely.
They're like thief-cats, I can't be too careful. Hey, hey, bring that here and go outside and play.
There are many things to play with outside, telegraph poles and so on."
When a child is scolded in this way, he understands for the first time that he has done something wrong.
So Touichi-kun, who had taken out the lamp, and the neighborhood children who hadn't taken out anything, all felt as if they had done something wrong.
They slunk out into the street.
Outside, a spring afternoon breeze blew the dust from the road as it passed by.
Sometimes a white butterfly would hurriedly pass by after a slow ox cart.
Telegraph poles stood here and there.
However, children didn't play with telegraph poles.
To a child, it seemed absurd to play with something that an adult had told them to play with, just as they were told.
So the children went off to the park, ticking off the glass marbles in their pockets.
Soon they were playing on their own and forgot about the lamp.
Touichi-kun returned home at dusk.
He found the lamp in the corner of the back living room.
However, he didn't say anything about the lamp.
He thought if he said anything about it, he might be scolded by his grandfather again.
The boring time after supper came.
Touichi-kun leaned against the dresser and clanked the drawer can.
He also went out to the store to watch the bearded professor of the agricultural school order a book with a complicated name like "Theory and Practice of Radish Cultivation".
When he got tired of this, he went back to the living room.
After making sure that his grandfather was not there, he went over to the lamp and tried to take off the lamp chimney, or turned a screw the size of a bronze coin to pull the wick out or pull it back in.
As he was working hard, he was spotted by his grandfather again.
But this time, he didn't scold his grandson.
Grandfather asked sister to make him a cup of tea, and as he pulled out his smoking pipe, he said.
"Tou-bou, this lamp is very nostalgic for me.
I forgot about it for a long time, but now that Tou-bou has brought it out from the corner of the storehouse, I remember the old days again.
When you get old like this old man, it makes you happy to come across old things like lamps or anything."
Touichi-kun looked at his grandfather with a blank expression on his face.
Touichi-kun thought grandfather was angry because he had scolded children, but he was happy to see the old lamp.
"Come and sit down, I can tell you a story from the past." Grandfather said.
Touichi-kun liked stories, so he did as he was told and sat down in front of grandfather.
However, he felt uncomfortable, as if he was being lectured to, so he decided to listen in the posture he usually took when listening to a talk at home.
He lay down and occasionally tap the soles of his feet together.
Grandfather's story was as follows.
- To return to table of contents of Grandfather's Lamp