"Why, look at you!

" Yuichi said, as he patted a bright orange baby pumpkin, which looked like it had grown a few sizes since the night before. "You will grow into a large pumpkin like your brothers." Yuichi smiled as he thought about all the many ways that Mother could prepare pumpkin. Pumpkin boiled and flavored with soy sauce, deep-fried pumpkin, and pumpkin in soup. Yuichi loved pumpkin! He stood and stretched his arms. The hatake [1] was filled with bright red tomatoes, leafy greens, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and cauliflowerall of these vegetables he had helped his father to plant. Olhe s para voc! disse Yuichi, acariciando uma abbora laranja pequenininha que parecia ter crescido um bocado desde a noite anterior. Voc vai ficar grande igual as suas irms. Yuichi sorriu pensando em todas as maneiras como sua me sabia preparar abbora. Abbora cozida com molho de soja, abbora frita e sopa de abbora. Yuichi adorava comer abbora! Ele se levantou e estirou os braos. O hatake [1] estava cheio de legumes e verduras tomates bem vermelhos, verduras bem verdinhas e viosas, abbora, batatadoce, berinjela, batatas e couve-flor e ele tinha ajudado seu pai a plantar tudo aquilo.

Havia um lindo p de ume [2] no canto da horta, cuja casca parecia negra na sombra e um p de kaki [3] cheio de kakis pequenos e coloridos; faltava bastante tempo para eles ficarem maduros o bastante para estarem prontos para comer. Ele olhou para a horta e reparou que precisava tirar as ervas daninhas do canteiro das berinjelas. Ervas daninhas so ruins, disse Yuichi, repetindo aula que seu pai lhe ensinara sobre ervas daninhas. Elas roubam os nutrientes do solo e no sobra nada para as plantas crescerem grandes e nutritivas! Quando ele se abaixou e comeou a remover as ervas daninhas do canteiro de berinjelas, ouviu algum chamando seu nome. Olhou ao seu redor e viu seu amigo, Taku, correndo em sua direo empunhando uma espada de madeira. Taku era filho de um samurai. [4] Olhe s! gritou Taku. Olhe a minha espada! Yuichi ficou admirando o brinquedo novo de Taku. Que lindo! Eu tambm gostaria de ter algo assim to legal.

At the edge of the garden stood a beautiful ume [2] tree, with bark that looked black in the shadows. There was also a short kaki [3] tree laden with small kakis; they still had a ways to go before they would be ripe and ready to eat. As he looked around the garden, he noticed that the eggplant patch needed to be weeded. "Weeds must be removed while theyre still small," Yuichi said, quoting his father's lesson on weeds. "Weeds that are allowed to grow rob the soil of nutrients that would otherwise be available to help the vegetables grow large and nutritious! As he bent over and began pulling weeds from the eggplant patch, he heard someone call his name. He looked up and saw his friend Taku charging toward him brandishing a wooden sword. Taku was the son of a samurai. [4] "Look at me!" Taku shouted. "Look at my sword!" Yuichi admired Taku's new toy. "How nice! I wish I had something like that."

Taku laughed and hopped with delight. "Of course you do! Come, let's play!" Yuichi looked at the eggplant patch that he had been weeding. The eggplants didn't seem as interesting as they had moments before. "I should do this first. The eggplants could suffer if I don't take good care of them." Taku began to jab at imaginary foes with his wooden sword. "No one will know. Besides, why do you do that anyway? Your mother could just as easily do it." "I like gardening," said Yuichi, though he was feeling less and less sure of just how much.

Taku riu e pulou de alegria. claro que gostaria! Venha, vamos brincar. Yuichi olhou para o canteiro de berinjelas onde trabalhava. No parecia to bonito e interessante como minutos antes. Tenho que fazer isso primeiro. As berinjelas podem morrer se eu no cuidar bem delas. Taku comeou a atacar inimigos imaginrios com a sua espada de madeira. Ningum vai ficar sabendo. Alm do mais, por que voc faz isso? Sua me poderia muito bem fazer isso. Eu gosto de jardinagem, disse Yuichi; mas agora sua voz no demonstrava tanta certeza.

"But do you really feel like gardening right now?" "Well I thought I did. Actually, I do feel like playing right now. Perhaps in a little while I will feel like gardening, and then I can get rid of these weeds." Yuichi and Taku spent much of the day playing in the shallows of the river near the village. They climbed up to Pine Hill and spread their arms like soaring hawks. They filled their pockets with shiny rocks, and they playacted mock battles. Since Taku had the only sword, the victor was the same every time. Mas voc quer mesmo fazer jardinagem agora? Eu achava que sim. Na verdade, estou com vontade de brincar agora. Talvez daqui a pouco vou sentir vontade de cuidar da horta, a arranco as ervas daninhas. Yuichi e Taku passaram grande parte do dia brincando nas margens do rio prximo ao vilarejo. Eles escalaram o morro dos pinheiros e abriram os braos como gavies em voo. Encheram os bolsos com pedrinhas brilhantes e lutaram em batalhas de faz-de-conta. Como s Taku empunhava a nica espada, o vencedor era o mesmo cada vez.

Como foi seu dia? perguntou o pai, enquanto jantavam seu shake [5], daikon [6] em conserva, arroz e sopa de miso [7]. Fiquei brincando com o Taku, respondeu Yuichi, percebendo agora que talvez no fosse a melhor maneira de passar o dia inteiro. Espero que tenha se divertido, disse o pai, tomando um gole de sopa de miso. Temos sido abenoados com lindos dias de vero, e devemos valoriz-los. Depois de alguns instantes, seu pai, um pouco preocupado, disse, Hoje reparei que tinha umas ervas daninhas no canteiro das berinjelas. Voc normalmente bem cuidadoso e se certifica de no deixar nenhuma erva daninha. Mas talvez no as tenha visto hoje. Foi isso? Ah, pai, eu vi sim, disse Yuichi, mas eu no estava com vontade de cuidar da horta esta manh. Voc fez um trabalho to bom ajudando sua me ano passado que lhe confiamos a tarefa de cuidar da horta sozinho este ano. por causa do nosso hatake que tivemos verduras em conserva, ume e kakis secas para comer, mesmo nos meses de inverno. Eu sei, sussurrou Yuichi. Seu pai o envolveu com um brao e disse com um brilho nos olhos, Quero lhe mostrar uma coisa depois do jantar.

"How was your day?" Yuichis father asked as they had their evening meal of shake,[5] pickled daikon,[6] rice, and miso [7] soup. "I was playing with Taku," said Yuichi, suddenly feeling that perhaps it hadn't been the very best way to spend the entire day. "I hope that was fun," said his father as he sipped from his miso bowl. "We have been blessed with beautiful summer days which are to be treasured." After a few moments, Yuichis father said with some concern, "Today I noticed that there were some weeds in the eggplant patch. You are usually very careful to make sure that no weeds grow there. But today, perhaps you did not see them?" "Oh, Father, I did see them," said Yuichi, "but I didn't feel much like gardening this morning. "You did such a good job helping Mother last year that we trusted you to watch the garden yourself this year. Our hatake is the reason we had the pickled vegetables and ume and dried kaki to eat, even throughout the winter months." "I know," Yuichi whispered. Father put his arm on Yuichi's shoulder and said, "After dinner, I will show you something."

Later, Yuichi and his father stood on the edges of the hatake. "What do you think this is?" Yuichis father asked as he pulled a pale flat seed from within his yukata [8] and pressed it into Yuichi's hand. "It is a pumpkin seed. It will be a pumpkin one day," Yuichi replied. "Oh really? So if I leave this pumpkin seed here on the ground, and I come back for it in five months, will I find a pumpkin plant?" "Oh no, Father. If you leave it here, it will be eaten by birds or blown away by the wind. You need to plant it." "So then, if I plant it and leave it alone after that, it will be alright?"

Mais tarde, Yuichi e seu pai estavam de p ao lado do hatake. O que acha que isso? perguntou ao tirar uma sementinha plida e achatada do seu yukata [8], colocando-a na mo de Yuichi. uma semente de abbora. Um dia ser uma abbora, respondeu Yuichi. Vai mesmo? Ento se eu deixar esta semente de abbora aqui no cho e voltar daqui a cinco meses vou encontrar uma aboboreira? Ah no, pai. Se deix-la a vai ser comida pelos pssaros ou levada pelo vento. Teria que plant-la. Ento basta plantar e fica tudo bem?

Yuichi riu. No, claro que no! Temos que regar a semente e adub-la, e depois nos certificarmos que os bichinhos no comem as folhas no sexto ms do ano. Tambm temos que arrancar as ervas daninhas. Ah, mas isso muito trabalho! disse o pai sorrindo. Que tal se no plantarmos as sementes de abboras ano que vem? No plantar as sementes de abbora? exclamou Yuichi. Nem as de berinjela, nem de tomate, nem semente alguma! Afinal, d tanto trabalho, e quero que voc se divirta. Mas o que comeramos no inverno? Talvez possamos plantar quando o inverno chegar. Mas seria tarde demais! Vai ser frio demais para as plantas crescerem. Mas voc no prefere brincar com Taku nos campos em vez de cuidar das plantas? Yuichi ficou calado. Gostaria que tivesse conseguido enxergar alm da vontade de s brincar naquele dia. Seu pai colocou o brao no ombro de Yuichi enquanto olhavam para as fileiras de tomates, berinjelas, espinafre, couve-flor, batatas e abboras sob a luz das luminrias do lado de fora da porta.

Yuichi laughed. "No, of course not! We have to water the seed and fertilize it, and then make sure that bugs don't eat the leaves, and also keep the weeds away." "Well now, what a lot of work that is!" Father said with a smile. "How about we don't plant pumpkin seeds next year?" "No pumpkin seeds!" cried Yuichi. "And no eggplant seeds or tomato seeds or any seeds at all! It is so much work after all, and I want you to have fun and enjoy yourself." "But then what will we eat throughout winter? Perhaps we might plant our vegetables then?" "By then it will be too late! There won't be enough sunlight, and it wont be warm enough for anything to grow." "But wouldn't you rather play with Taku in the fields than care for the plants?" Yuichi was quiet. He wished he had been able to see past his desire to only play that day. Father put his arm around Yuichi as they stared at the straight rows of tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, cauliflower, potatoes, and pumpkin in the light of the lanterns that hung outside their door.

Quando s fazemos o que temos vontade, porque s estamos pensando no que nos deixa felizes no momento. Mas essas coisas geralmente no duram mais que um dia. s vezes, me sinto cansado e no tenho vontade de jogar minhas redes para pescar. Mas quando penso em voc e na sua me, fico feliz em fazer isso, porque sei que vocs vo ficar felizes e minha famlia estar bem cuidada. *** Na manh seguinte, com a conversa da noite anterior bem gravada em seu corao, Yuichi calou rapidamente seus geta [9], e foi para o hatake. Hoje vou arrancar todas as ervas daninhas sua volta, disse para as berinjelas. Ele voltara a sentir alegria em cuidar da horta. No eram mais simples berinjelas aqueles legumes representavam comidas deliciosas para o ano inteiro. Oi, [10] Yuichi, disse uma voz conhecida. Vim brincar! Sinto muito, disse Yuichi, mas s vou poder ir com voc mais para o final da tarde. Preciso livrar a minha horta dessas ervas daninhas. Foi amigvel, mas determinado. Taku se surpreendeu com aquela sria declarao de Yuichi, e pareceu bastante confuso. Sentou-se. Mas voc no prefere brincar?

"When we do only what we feel like doing, it is because we are thinking only about what might make us happy right now. But these things usually do not last past nightfall. Sometimes I am tired and I do not feel like casting my nets for fish, but when I think about you and your mother, then I'm happy to do it because I know that you will be happy, and my family will be well cared for." *** The next morning, with the conversation from the night before firmly fixed in his heart, Yuichi hurriedly slipped on his geta, [9] and went to the hatake. "Today, I will clear all the bad weeds from around you," he said to the eggplants. His joy in the garden was restored. These were no longer just eggplantsthese vegetables meant delicious foods all year round. "Oi, [10] Yuichi," a familiar voice cried. "I've come to play!" "I'm sorry," said Yuichi, "but I can't go with you until later this afternoon. I must first rid my garden of these weeds." He was friendly but firm. Taku was quite taken aback at Yuichi's solemn statement, and looked very puzzled. He sat down. "Wouldn't you rather play all day, though?"

Olha, quando penso no que aconteceria se eu no cuidasse das minhas plantas, prefiro muito mais cuidar delas agora, e brincar mais tarde. Mas isso no tem graa nenhuma! disse Taku de cara amarrada. Na verdade, respondeu Yuichi sorrindo, j que voc mencionou, eu at que estou me divertindo. Estou pensando em como estas berinjelas vo ficar roxas e gordas quando amadurecerem por completo. Ento a minha me vai grelh-las e vo ficar deliciosas! Minha me vai ficar feliz e meu pai orgulhoso, e isso me deixa feliz. Voc quer ser um samurai como o seu pai quando crescer? Yuchi perguntou ao seu amigo. No sei. Quando quero brincar, eu brinco. Ou ento, gosto de ficar deitado na minha cama e no fazer nada. No penso muito no futuro. Veja bem, como acontece com as minhas abboras. Se eu no cuidar delas direito, podem ser comidas por larvas ou bichinhos. Preciso fazer o que me cabe para que possam crescer e ficar grandes e fortes. Quando eu crescer, quero cultivar bem mais legumes e verduras do que os que tenho hoje. Mas preciso aprender tudo o que posso agora, para poder ser um bom lavrador quando for mais velho.

"Well, when I think about what would happen if I didn't take care of my plants, I would much rather take care of them now, and play later." "That cannot possibly be any fun at all!" Taku said glumly. "Actually," Yuichi said with a smile, "now that you mention it, I am enjoying myself. I'm thinking about how bright purple and fat these eggplants will look once they are fully ripe. And then Mother will grill them and they will taste so delicious! Mother will be pleased, and Father will be proud, and that makes me happy. Do you want to be a samurai like your father when you grow up?" Yuchi asked his friend. "I don't know. When I feel like playing, I play. Other times, it is very pleasant to lie in bed and do nothing at all. I don't think much about the future." "Well, you see, it's like my pumpkins. If I don't take care of them properly, they could get eaten by worms or bugs. I need to do my part so that they will grow big and strong. When I grow up I want to grow many more vegetables than just the ones I have here. But I need to learn what I can now, so that I'll be a good farmer when I'm older."

There was a pause, then Taku slowly asked, "Do you think I could become a great samurai like my father?" "I think so. You are very good with a sword, but you must train." Taku's chest puffed up with pride, then he sighed. "But what should I do?" "You probably won't be able to play as much as you like, but if you are faithful, one day you will be a great samurai. Just like if I am faithful to garden, I will be a good farmer and have many vegetables in my garden. Would you like to play after I finish here?" Houve silncio, depois Taku perguntou devagarzinho, Voc acha que eu poderia ser um grande samurai como o meu pai? Acho que sim. Voc maneja a espada muito bem. Taku sentiu-se orgulhoso e estufou o peito, mas depois suspirou. Mas ento o que devo fazer? Vai ter que treinar. Imagino que no ia poder brincar tanto quanto gostaria, mas se for fiel, um dia ser um grande samurai. E se eu for fiel com a minha horta, serei um bom lavrador e terei muitas verduras e legumes na minha horta. Quer brincar depois que eu terminar aqui?

Quero. Mas acho que agora vou conversar com o meu pai sobre as coisas que posso aprender para poder ser um samurai. Yuichi imaginou Taku como um grande samurai em um cavalo e uma armadura. Depois sorriu, pensando em todas as verduras e legumes que ele e sua famlia teriam na colheita.

"Yes. And for now I think that I will go and talk with my father about things that I can learn so that I can be a samurai. As Taku walked away, Yuichi imagined Taku as a great samurai with a horse and armor. Then he imagined all the many vegetables that he and his family would have from their harvest, and he smiled.

[1] hatake: horta [2] ume: ameixa [3] kaki: caqui [4] samurai: um guerreiro japons [5] shake: salmo [6] daikon: rabanete branco [7] miso: pasta de soja [8] yukata: roupo usado nos meses de vero [9] geta: sandlias de madeira [10] Oi: Ei

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

hatake: vegetable garden ume: plum kaki: persimmon samurai: a Japanese warrior shake: salmon daikon: white radish miso: soy bean yukata: loose robe that is worn during the summer months 9. geta: wooden clogs 10. Oi: hey

Histrias bilnge para crianas www.freekidstories.org

Story written by Tomoko Matsuoka. Art by Didier Martin. Courtesy of My Wonder Studio.