In the light of the moon, my animal saviour －おや、救世どうぶつ、とお月さまが空から見ていいました－

“In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.

One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and – Pop! –

Out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar”

From “The very hungry caterpillar”, by Eric Carle

What is the most elegant animal on Earth?  Many human cultures have chosen one animal to worship above all others.  If our modern global culture had to pick one animal to revere and model ourselves on, which should we pick?

How about the bull?  In ancient Crete, the Minoan people chose to revere bulls.  They left many images of the animals, which are both strong and beautiful.  Some images even show men and women leaping over the backs of bulls.  Bull-jumping could be a more fun sport than bull-fighting.

Or how about the crocodile?  It might not seem like an obvious choice.  But ancient Egyptians had a crocodile-god called Sobek.  The god was pretty scary, but at least his life was elegantly simple.  Egyptians also called him, “He who eats at the same time as he mates.”

But here is my suggestion.  How about the butterfly?  I have never heard of a butterfly-god, but some cultures have been fascinated with the butterfly.  It is often associated with great change because of the way it transforms itself from a humble caterpillar into a beautiful and delicate butterfly.  It is easy to see how people began to connect this transformation with death and rebirth.  Some Native-American cultures believed that butterflies were the reincarnations of dead warriers.  There was once a similar myth in Japan, that butterflies were the souls of people.

My favourite book is “Papillon,” by Henri Charriere.  The title means butterfly in French.  The book is the autobiography of the writer, who had a huge butterfly tattoo on his back.  He was imprisoned for murder (falsely, he claims) and kept escaping from different prisons and being recaptured, but never giving up.  The butterfly on his back seems to represent the delicate gift of freedom he eventually wins.

But the main reason I wish to worship the butterfly is for my son.  He loves the children’s book, “The very hungry caterpillar” by Eric Carle.  A song version of the book is like a magic spell for him.  If he is screaming and throwing things about, we quickly run to a smartphone to put on the song before he breaks something.  If he has flopped onto the floor, half-asleep, and is refusing to get up, we put on the song and he instantly jumps up, awake.

Thank you, butterfly.  You are the most beautiful of animals.  And your gifts are the greatest.

Vocabulary:

to worship – of a religious believer, to show praise or respect for (a) god

to revere something -  to feel great respect or admiration for something

to mate – of animals, to have sex

a reincarnation - a person or animal reborn into another body

to flop – to fall or hang down in an inelegant way

Sometimes it’s best to be a humble drummer －時々謙遜するドラマーでいることが一番良い－

A jazz trio is playing.  The pianist is a virtuoso.  He is the reason a crowd has gathered at the live venue and spent their hard-earned cash.  The bass player and the drummer are heard in the background, keeping the rhythm and providing a little depth to the music.

There is a quiet moment in the song and the piano fades out.

Suddenly the drummer has a rush of blood to the head and jumps in.  Pah-pah-ta-pap.  Ching-ching-ching.  Pahpt- ta-ta-pa-pa-pa-ching!

The audience politely applauds.  They are nice people, and are just happy to know that the drummer is still awake.  Unfortunately, the drummer misunderstands the reason for the applause.  He assumes that the audience are demanding a two-minute drum solo.  He takes a deep breath.

Pah-tarrrapa.  Ching-ching-ching-ching! (More pahs, tas, and chings continue randomly for two pages)

The drummer has forgotten that he is just a drummer.  His job is to stay in the background.

This happens in jazz.  Sometimes in the middle of an otherwise good song, you can hear a really long solo from a drummer or bass player.  I don’t mind a short solo.  But anything more than 10 seconds tends to be very boring.  There just isn’t the same variety of sounds available to a bass player or drummer as there is for a pianist or trumpeter.

I think this advice also holds true in other areas of life.  If you are in a meeting and you don’t have anything important to contribute, then there is no need to jump forward and talk.  If you are in the back-seat of a car, there is no need to tell the driver how to drive.

Sometimes it’s best to be a humble drummer.

Vocabulary:

a venue – a place where something, such as a concert, happens

depth – of music, richness; variety of tones

to have a rush of blood to the head – informal, to suddenly act rashly

otherwise (good) – (good) in all other parts except this one

for something to hold true – of a theory etc., not to be disproven after being tested

humble – having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s importance

How a lack of cash made me rethink my love of Sweden －現金不足で僕がどのようにスウェーデンへの愛について考え直すことになったのか－

I don’t like Sweden.  What has Sweden ever done for the world?

“Well,” you say, “I suppose they did introduce the Nobel Prize, encouraging peace, science and literature.”

I guess it’s nice for Kazuo Ishiguro to get a literary prize.  I like his books too.  But, apart from the Nobel Prize, what has Sweden ever done for the world?  Answer me that if you can!

“Well, I suppose they did built a model welfare state, demonstrating that a modern industrial country can remain competitive whilst still helping the vulnerable in society.”

I can’t disagree with a nice welfare state.  But apart from the Nobel Prize, and a model welfare state, what has Sweden ever done for the world?  Huh?

“Well, I suppose they have committed to the most generous foreign aid budget of any country in the world, giving more than 1 per cent of GDP to good causes overseas.”

Okay, it is kind to donate to good causes.  But apart from the Nobel Prize, a model welfare state, and the most generous foreign aid budget in the world, what has Sweden ever done for the world?  Eh?

Actually, I do quite like Sweden.  But I like them less since I read an article about their approach to cash.

According to the article, Sweden is likely to be the first cashless society in the world.  Only 25 per cent of Swedes use cash at least once a week.  And only 15 per cent of payments to shops are made in cash.  Many bank branches refuse to handle cash.  It is also impossible to use cash on many buses and in many shops.  If this trend continues, it will become harder and harder to pay for anything in cash.  Cash might disappear altogether.

I am sure this is much cheaper for the banks.  And maybe it is convenient for businesses.

But I like cash.  I can feel the notes and coins and tell which is which, and how much I am paying.  If I pay by credit card I can’t easily check how much is being taken from my bank account.

And it is hard to collect data on what I am buying if I pay in cash.  Imagine the government could collect data on everything you bought, since there was a computer record of all your credit-card purchases.  I can imagine many governments sending the police to your door to say, “Why did you buy this book?”

Has Sweden considered all the people who have difficulty using the internet to pay for things?  How about the homeless?  How about people with a disability that makes it difficult to use a computer?  How about elderly people?

Come on, Sweden!  You’re better than this.  I admit that you have done some good things for the world.  But the cashless society won’t be one of them.

Vocabulary:

model – deserving to be copied by others; very good or excellent

(a/ the) welfare state – a system of government help and benefits for citizens who need help

vulnerable – in a weak or dangerous position

to commit to something – to promise to do something

foreign aid – money given, usually by the governments of rich countries, to poor countries or other groups in need of help

to donate – to give money or goods as a form of charity

Right and wrong －善と悪－

“Is it right to join a gang?

Is it right to kill a man?

Is it right to buy a gun?

Is stabbing people fun? 

It’s wrong!

This is a song about right and wrong,

And those things are wrong!

Is it right to sit up straight?

Is it right to clean your plate?

Is it right to clean your room;

Learn facts about the moon? 

It’s right!

This is a song about wrong and right,

And those things are right!”

From the Adam and Joe song, “Right and Wrong”

Do you know the difference between right and wrong?  If you think that you do, then how did you learn?  Did you learn from experience?  Did you learn at school?  Did your parents teach you?

Mostly we learn what society calls right and wrong by being punished when we do something wrong, and praised when we do something right.  If you steal your classmate’s toy at nursery then the teacher will tell you off.  If you say sorry then the teacher will probably show happiness.

But what if your parents never tell you off?  What if you can always get everything that you want, and are never punished for breaking society’s rules?

Umm... you become American president?

But this is not a point about Donald Trump.  I wanted to write about a young man from a rich family who got into trouble, and used an interesting legal defence to excuse his actions.  When Ethan Couch was 16 years old, he drove a car well above the speed limit, lost control and killed 4 people.  His blood tests showed that he was drunk and had taken illegal drugs.

At his trial for manslaughter, his lawyer argued that he suffered from “affluenza”.  This is a combination of the words “affluence”, meaning wealth, and “influenza”, a disease.  The lawyer argued that Couch could not be held responsible for his actions because his life of extreme wealth had left him unable to tell the difference between right and wrong.  According to the lawyer, being rich was like an illness for Couch, damaging his moral sense.

Couch certainly seems to have had an unusual upbringing.  According to Wikipedia, Couch used to drive to school when he was just 13.  When the head-teacher complained about this to Couch’s parents, Couch’s father threatened to buy the school if the head-teacher kept complaining.  That’s hardly strong parenting.

But don’t we learn right and wrong from more sources than just our parents?  And judges rarely show leniency to poor people because they have had a tough upbringing.  Can they really be lenient towards rich people because they have had such an easy upbringing?

The judge did not initially sent Ethan Couch to prison.  He put him on probation for ten years, which meant that he could stay out of prison as long as he stayed out of further trouble.  But one of the conditions of Couch’s probation was that he had to avoid drinking alcohol.  And he was caught on camera drinking at a party, and eventually sent to jail for two years.  He has just been released from prison this week.

I hope that somebody played him the song “Right and Wrong” by Adam and Joe when he was in prison.  It has some good tips about what is right and what is wrong.  And I hope he stays out of trouble in the future and leads a good life.

Vocabulary:

to stab someone – to push a knife or other pointed weapon into someone to wound them

to praise (passive, to be praised) – to show approval

to tell someone off – to scold someone; to criticise someone for doing something wrong

manslaughter – the crime of killing someone in a way that is less serious than murder

to be held responsible for something – to be blamed for something

an upbringing – the treatment a child receives from its parents throughout its childhood

leniency – a lack of strictness; having more forgiveness than expected

probation – the release of a criminal as long as he or she shows good behaviour