Even though I had got used to loneliness, it was very pain went beyond regret for me to hear from my uncles or aunts that you had not your parents and your siblings, but I could keep my calm face when I was told from others that you were a fatherless child.
I could not believe why the close relatives said to me that you were a fatherless child. I could not understand who I should ask for helping me. If I told to my grandfather, I could not estimate how much my grandfather would be sad. I could understand to make my grandfather to be sad, even if I was a child at that moment. So I decided to bear.
I often played on his knees of my grandfather. My grandfather had the habit of saying that a person to jump over height of my west was only Shigetoshi, then I also said to him that I could jump over your head rather than your west or shoulder by climbing on your shoulders. Then my grandfather was grad to hear it with narrowed eyes. A person could climb on my grandfather was only me even though there were many grandchildren. Jinsaku Tasaka and Isaburo Yanagisawa said to me with smile that my grandfather said that Shigetoshi would jump over height of my west when I was born. But they could not understand why and what my grandfather saw on me , they were regretting not to question a reason to my grandfather.
My grandfather usually bought me things required by me in childhood. If I said to him that I had to buy the dictionary for elementary school, he questioned me if it should be needed, so I said yes. Finally he understood and allowed me to buy the dictionary. When I would buy things which I wanted, my grandfather bought 3 certainly included Kaneshige and Torataro of my cousins. If I wanted clothes, my grandfather bought 3 clothes and distributed to each other. My grandfather did not discriminate when he would make or distribute something to us.
When I said to my grandfather to want KOMA(gyro shape toy) someday , he was making hard it with a zelkova branch which he cut at KANNON-SAMA (Hakuseiji temple annex). I remember it in my critical situation. So when I faced on a difficult situation, I never give up by such kind of a trouble because nobody would help me. Moreover I can imagine there should be painful things on me in the future and never say complain. Therefore I could keep my life without complain. My grandfather taught me not to be second to my own mind every time he talk to me.
A students who is over 5 grads could go to a school trip, but even students at 3 grads could go to a school trip with a parents. When I said to my grandfather to go to a school trip, I went to Matsuyama city with my uncle, Tomotaro to whom my grandfather asked to go to a school trip with me.
I saw a horse on the way. We could not see cows and horses at OKIKAMURO island. I was not tired to see behavior of horse, and my uncle pushed me to move because nobody was there. However I did not move. My grandfather always had trouble with me at anywhere because I did not move until I understood.
When we came back from a school trip , my uncle said to my grandfather that I never go to a school trip with Shigetoshi because I had trouble with Shigetoshi.
My grandfather replied to him that I understood and it was fine. Then my grandfather said to Skaichi Nakayama to go to a school trip with Shigetoshi at 4th grade. Uncle, Tomotaro said that if you would go to a school trip with Shigetoshi, it should make you to have trouble. And uncle complained to have trouble with me. However my grandfather liked my behavior like that, he made it up as the good thing.
After graduated a school, I left a port riding fishing boat with my grandfather after a long interval with hearing window by pain trees. My grandfather told me that it should be fine today because of ‘ASAKITA-YORUMINAMI’ (Northern window in the morning and Southern window in the evening). He looked to be fine. Moreover my grandmother provided a box lunch in earlier morning.
When I was DONOMA( the place for captain to sit), I found that there was a sickle and a hatchet instead of fishing tackle. I questioned to him why there was not fishing tackle. My grandfather told me that we were not going to fishing today, instead I would like to let you know the boundary of our field and land at MINASE (small island which belongs to Okikamuro island). He putted up YAHO (small sail) at the head of the boat with saying so. The boat went to MINASE with calm north window. We saw the lighthouse of SENGAI on the right hand and KATAYAMA on the left hand and the mountains of SHIKOKU ahead of diagonal left.
My grandfather told me that we could get back easily with the sail received southern window. Other boats were already fishing at fisheries, but I and my grandfather came alongside of pier at the beach of KITAURA. Since we could not climb the road from KITAURA easily, we went forward to make a road with a sickle and a hatchet and climbed at the top of a hill.
We could see the mountains of SHIKOKU and AOSHIMA (small island as well) and SADA headland from the top of the hill. It was very beautiful landscape that window from the top of the hill to the sea was clam and SETONAIKA sea was like the mirror with no window and reflected OKIKAMAURO and other mountains on the sea. SETONAIKAI sea in spring was especially beautiful.
When I was absorbed in seeing landscape , my grandfather said to me that Shigetoshi, you should watch carefully that there were 4 fields at KITAURA and all field at SUKUBI area were belonged to us and also they were our owns where the beach to come alongside a pier and place to lift the boat were.
He also said to me that the land from the beach of the side road of MYOJINSAMA to 3 layer fields where there were pain trees on the hill. Although there were 12 houses, they were belonged to us.
He additionally told me that pain trees would die when height of the glass would be higher than pain trees. Therefore you should watch carefully a glass, he said to me. However he said to me that height of pain trees would be higher than a glass, it was all right after that.
We took a lunch at noon, and he told me that MINASE was very helpful island when famines would happen especially. A sweet potato and radish under the grand and wheat and millet above grand grew very much. He said to me that MINASE was warmer at less one clothes than OKIKAMURA even in winter. My grandfather told me that although I would like to watch around of houses and the fields over there, came back again later. He said to me that I felt stomach ache we had better go back today soon.
To go down the road from KITAURA was easier than climbing because we had built a road when we climbed. When we got on the boat, my grandfather was on the DONOMA, but he looked a bad condition of his stomach. I pulled the oar hard ahead OKIKAMURO. My grandfather sometime got up his head when he felt slightly good and suggested me not to headed for OKIKAMURO and headed for KATAYAMAJIMA (Katayama island) and lied down. When OKIKAMURO was close, my grandfather suggested me to head the port of SUSAKI from here with getting up his head.
I pulled hard the oar to arrive at the port as possible as I could. We finally arrived at the port. When I had been satisfied, my grandfather got up his head and said to me that it was important for human to close something completely. The boat had not reached at the port, he said to me. I really realized and dropped the anchor and settled the boat at the beach by turning the boat. I hurried to go back to our home as soon as possible with helping hard my grandfather.
When my grandfather had been recovered slightly , he said that you did a good job and praised me so that you were patient like the same as your father was patient. When my father was hit by a storm at GENKAINADA , he was on the boat of Ushisuke Ishimaru with 4 men. They were pulling the oar and threw out the sea water by a rotation. A person by a person lied down and finally nobody could not threw out the sea water. However my father was pulling the oar by alone with the sea water in the boat and reached at the WAKAMATSU port at KYUSHU island. When the fishing season had been finished and come back to OKIKAMURO, everybody came to my father`s house and appreciated that nobody lost at that moment with my father`s excellent performance.
I belief that I also took over my father`s mind or blood.
When I came back from fishing by the boat of Nakayama, my grandfather did not take a meal and waited for me. He always questioned me where you did go today and what kind of fish you did fishing and so on. It seemed to be very pleasant for him to hear and question to me. When I came back late, my grandfather did not took a meal and was sleeping. So I recommended him to take a meal, but he said to me that he would like to speak to me but did not take a meal and slept. Even if my grandmother suggested my grandfather to take a meal , but slept without a meal until I came back to home.
I think my grandfather was aiming to recognize me as the present head of the family at that moment. It was lasted until I got out OKIKAMURO.
Story about that I got out OKIKAMURO will be continued to the next.
printed Oct. 27th 1999, 15:19:
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