This was my favorite chapter so far. I loved everything about it. I found myself for the first time ever compelled to read a Japanese book, instead of reading my allocated pages per day. I really wanted to know what would happen next! I ended up finishing early this past week, again for the first time ever.
I loved how they made the young girl sound so haughty, and so Kiki was like “Well what happens if the boy thinks I’m the girl delivering the gift?” while staring in the mirror. I loved the poem and how silly it was. And then of course I loved when Kiki and Jiji tried to (almost successfully) recreate it. And to top it off, one of my favorite trees is the Gingko tree, so that just added to the magic.
All in all, I was really happy reading this chapter. I even told my friend the entire plot of it, and then laughed because in English it sounds so different than Japanese. It loses a little bit of the whismy and I remember, “Oh yes this is a children’s book.” But she enjoyed the recap.
I too enjoyed this sentence and was pleased to be able to read it smoothly on the first try.
seanblue lays out the two poems side by side in the official thread if you want to check them out. It’s here. I was thinking on the なぜか verus なぜなぜ, and how that may be “for some reason” vs. “why oh why”. One sounds a little more poetic and the other is a bit silly. And of course the hide and seek addition. So funny. What did you think of the two poems?