The other day, we took our two-year-old granddaughter, who can only manage to say “fish, fish!” for now, to Kasai Rinkai Park.
At the aquarium, she was glued to the tanks, her eyes sparkling as she watched the fish swim by. Her tiny body was bursting with excitement.
But when we tried to take her over to the squid tank, something strange happened — she completely refused to go near it. No matter how many times we gently encouraged her, she shook her head firmly. We were puzzled.
So I said, “Let’s go see the squid!”
And she turned away and said, “Ika-nai!” (“Ika” means squid, and “ikanai” means ‘I’m not going!’ in Japanese.)
We burst out laughing. We weren’t expecting a pun — let alone one that clever! Whether she meant it or not, it was the perfect little joke — and it made our whole day.
The other day, we took our two-year-old granddaughter, who can only manage to say “fish, fish!” for now, to Kasai Rinkai Park.
At the aquarium, she was glued to the tanks, her eyes sparkling as she watched the fish swim by. Her tiny body was bursting with excitement.
But when we tried to take her over to the squid tank, something strange happened — she completely refused to go near it. No matter how many times we gently encouraged her, she shook her head firmly. We were puzzled.
So I said, “Let’s go see the squid!”
And she turned away and said, “Ika-nai!” (“Ika” means squid, and “ikanai” means ‘I’m not going!’ in Japanese.)
We burst out laughing. We weren’t expecting a pun — let alone one that clever! Whether she meant it or not, it was the perfect little joke — and it made our whole day.
和訳
「さかな、さかな」と、どうにか「さかな」という言葉だけ話せる二歳の孫娘と一緒に、葛西臨海公園へ行ってきました。水族館では、水槽の前に張りつくようにして、目を輝かせながら魚たちを見つめる孫娘。小さな体いっぱいに興奮があふれていました。
ところが、「いか」の水槽の前に連れて行こうとすると、不思議なことに、まったく近寄ろうとしません。どうしても見たくないようで、何度か誘ってみても、首を振ってイヤイヤ。ちょっとおかしいなと思いながら…
「いか、見ようよ」と声をかけると、
「いかない！」とぷいっと顔を背けて一言。
思わず笑ってしまいました。
まさかのダジャレで、きっぱりと拒否。小さな口から出たユーモアに、心がぽかぽかと温かくなった一日でした。
コメント