Chapter 2
School at the Bathhouse
It was becoming a ritual: the old nameless frog was once again looking for his errant pupil. He quietly slid open the door to Ae's classroom. Ae, who seemed barely old enough to be out of school herself, was teaching her young pupils how to read and write. He stayed in the hallway, making eye contact with her as she was writing on the chalkboard. He gave her the familiar quizzical look, which translated to, "Is she in here again?" Ae gave a smiling look back at the old frog, unmistakeably meaning, "Yes, she's here." Her eyes then panned to a spot in the center of the classroom where Lin had found an empty seat a few minutes before.
Lin, eight years old, was quite a bit younger than the other students in the class. She initially tried to squinch down when she saw the sliding door open, but readily gave up when Ae pointed her out. Neither Ae nor the old frog needed to say anything. Lin assumed a humble facial expression and exited the classroom with the same stealth she had entered and joined her teacher, who was trying very hard--but unsuccessfully--to look cross.
The two started to walk back toward the frog's class. "Today," Lin excitedly proclaimed, "we learned the character for fire. Look!" Lin then made the necessary four strokes in the air with her pointed finger. The old frog had never learned how to read, so he did his best to look impressed. "Lin-chan..." He stopped and put his webbed hand on her shoulder. "You know you can't go to that classroom. Can't you see the sign?" He pointed up to a wooden placard over the door. On the placard was painted a simple line drawing of a smiling snail. "That class is for the girls who will grow up to entertain Yubaba's customers." He then faced the classroom across the hall. Over that door was a placard with a similar drawing of a smiling frog. "That is where I went to school many years ago. It is for boys." He then pointed toward the placard over Lin's classroom. It was a drawing of a cute, smiling furry animal. "That is your class, Lin. It is for the girls who will work with us frogs to keep the bathhouse clean."
"But I don't want to keep the bathhouse clean. I want to entertain the guests. I'll bet is far more interesting work."
"Believe me, Lin-chan: you wouldn't want to do that. How do you feel when you are told to do something you don't want to do?"
"You know I don't like it."
"...and we are allowed to express our anger, aren't we?" The frog continued, "The Yu-na are told to do that every day and they have to smile through it all. How would you like to live your entire life without being able to express how you feel?"
"Even if I can express myself, I'd still have to do the work. I can learn to smile if I can learn to read and work with numbers."
The frog was getting nowhere with this argument, but didn't feel Lin was ready to understand the nature of the Yu-na work. "Lin-chan, Ae-sensei really enjoys having you sneak into her class because you're the only one who seems interested in learning, but we must follow the rules."
The two continued back toward class. "Sensei," (teacher) Lin asked, "What do those signs showing pictures of animals mean?"
The old frog was faced with another query that was better left alone until she was a little older. Lin was not human, but she didn't know that. Yubaba, the old sorceress who was the proprietor, changed everybody to human form. Thinking quickly, the frog replied, "Those signs represent the spirits of the teams you will be on when you get the chance to work." He knew he still had the gift that had made him such a good teacher all those years. "You are in the Tanuki team, and the Tanuki symbolizes intelligence, hard work, and hard play." Lin was quite impressed and pleased. "Wow! What about the snails?"
The old frog couldn't think of anything that might work. "I'll tell you later, Lin-chan. Get back into your seat."
None of this had deterred Lin from sneaking into Ae's classroom whenever she found the opportunity. Each time, the old frog would remove her with a mild warning and never punished her. Yubaba had firm control over what was to be taught in the classrooms, but she did let the children be children and gave the teachers wide latitude in discipline. Her much more demanding discipline would wait until they were big enough to go to work.
Unfortunatley for Lin, that loose policy came to an abrupt halt. One morning, Yubaba was inspecting the bath facilities when she saw streak marks on one of the windows. "Aniyaku!" She called out. "What is this?" Aniyaku, the assistant manager, approached and examined the window.
"It looks like writing, Yubaba-sama--finger writing, I'd say."
"I can tell it's finger writing. Somebody has been practicing the character for water. Not only are they wasting time, they are making the place look messy to our customers. Have this cleaned up immediately!"
"Yes, Yubaba-sama." Aniyaku looked humble on the outside, but was steaming mad inside. The bath floor was his personal responsibility, and somebody had caused him to look bad in front of the boss. He could only think of one place to get an answer: Ae's classroom.
"Ae-san," he started, still a bit winded from his one-flight climb to her empty classroom, "I think one of your pupils is practicing writing skills on my windows. Yubaba says it's the character for water."
Ae was beginning to get heated. "Yes, we studied that character yesterday. Today we do tree and tomorrow we'll do gold. Is there a problem with that?"
"There certainly is a problem with that. I don't know who's doing it nor do I care. Just make sure it stops. I'll take this to Chichiyaku, the general manager, if it continues."
"You can tell Yubaba to buy us some more paper, so we can practice our writing. I only get one sheet per student per day, and with Lin..."
"Lin?" asked Aniyaku. "What's Lin doing in your class? She's in the old frog's classroom."
Ae knew immediately that she said too much. She tried to recover, "Lin sneaks in from time to time for a few minutes. She's really eager to learn, but she knows she belongs in the frog's class."
"Ae-san, I don't want to hear of Lin sneaking into your classroom, or I'll make sure Yubaba hears about this. I also don't want Lin or you to get into trouble, so consider this a very strong warning." Aniyaku looked very serious about it, so Ae was forced to get serious about it.
Later that day, with classes underway, Ae heard the familiar sound of the sliding door opening. Lin was sneaking in again. Without glancing toward the door, she curtly announced, "Lin, return to your class." The door slowly closed and a sense of deep sadness overcame the young teacher. She was well-trained in her own arts, as she was able to hide her feelings from her class, but she felt she just tossed water on a fire. It was one of the most painful things she had to do as a teacher.
The next few days went without any attempts to sneak in. Ae felt she had broken Lin's spirit, and the thought of that was beginning to overcome her facade of cheerfulness. She had to find out how Lin was taking the exile. She went down the short hallway to the old frog's classroom. "Kaeru-jiisan," she addressed the frog, "may I talk with you about Lin?"
"Yes, of course."
"How is Lin doing? You know, since I had to kick her out."
"She's doing fine, but the sparkle in her eyes has dulled a little. She was in tears when she came back that day, but I knew what was going on and spent a few hours with her explaining the situation. I think she understands. ...and I know she doesn't blame you for not letting her in."
"If it's any help, Kaeru-san, I've prepared this homework for her to practice." She pulled out four sheets of precious paper and a pencil. "It's four days' worth of work and I expect her to get this back to me by the day after tomorrow."
"I'll give it to her, Ae-san. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."
"Also, could you please ask her not to practice writing on the windows?"
The old frog was a bit embarrassed. "Is that what this is about? I hate to admit it, but I am the guilty party. Lin taught me the character for water the other day, and I practiced writing it all over the steamy windows that evening. I thought I had cleaned them all up."
Ae was really pleased hearing that she had an effect on the frog. "Really? Do you want me to assign you homework as well?"
"No." he replied. "I'm too old, but water is very important to us frogs--look!" He then started drawing the character on his desk's surface with his finger. "How's that?"
"Very good, kaeru-san," she started entering teacher mode, "but don't lift your finger here." She pointed to the left side of his character. "This part is one stroke, not two. Try it again..."
School at the Bathhouse
It was becoming a ritual: the old nameless frog was once again looking for his errant pupil. He quietly slid open the door to Ae's classroom. Ae, who seemed barely old enough to be out of school herself, was teaching her young pupils how to read and write. He stayed in the hallway, making eye contact with her as she was writing on the chalkboard. He gave her the familiar quizzical look, which translated to, "Is she in here again?" Ae gave a smiling look back at the old frog, unmistakeably meaning, "Yes, she's here." Her eyes then panned to a spot in the center of the classroom where Lin had found an empty seat a few minutes before.
Lin, eight years old, was quite a bit younger than the other students in the class. She initially tried to squinch down when she saw the sliding door open, but readily gave up when Ae pointed her out. Neither Ae nor the old frog needed to say anything. Lin assumed a humble facial expression and exited the classroom with the same stealth she had entered and joined her teacher, who was trying very hard--but unsuccessfully--to look cross.
The two started to walk back toward the frog's class. "Today," Lin excitedly proclaimed, "we learned the character for fire. Look!" Lin then made the necessary four strokes in the air with her pointed finger. The old frog had never learned how to read, so he did his best to look impressed. "Lin-chan..." He stopped and put his webbed hand on her shoulder. "You know you can't go to that classroom. Can't you see the sign?" He pointed up to a wooden placard over the door. On the placard was painted a simple line drawing of a smiling snail. "That class is for the girls who will grow up to entertain Yubaba's customers." He then faced the classroom across the hall. Over that door was a placard with a similar drawing of a smiling frog. "That is where I went to school many years ago. It is for boys." He then pointed toward the placard over Lin's classroom. It was a drawing of a cute, smiling furry animal. "That is your class, Lin. It is for the girls who will work with us frogs to keep the bathhouse clean."
"But I don't want to keep the bathhouse clean. I want to entertain the guests. I'll bet is far more interesting work."
"Believe me, Lin-chan: you wouldn't want to do that. How do you feel when you are told to do something you don't want to do?"
"You know I don't like it."
"...and we are allowed to express our anger, aren't we?" The frog continued, "The Yu-na are told to do that every day and they have to smile through it all. How would you like to live your entire life without being able to express how you feel?"
"Even if I can express myself, I'd still have to do the work. I can learn to smile if I can learn to read and work with numbers."
The frog was getting nowhere with this argument, but didn't feel Lin was ready to understand the nature of the Yu-na work. "Lin-chan, Ae-sensei really enjoys having you sneak into her class because you're the only one who seems interested in learning, but we must follow the rules."
The two continued back toward class. "Sensei," (teacher) Lin asked, "What do those signs showing pictures of animals mean?"
The old frog was faced with another query that was better left alone until she was a little older. Lin was not human, but she didn't know that. Yubaba, the old sorceress who was the proprietor, changed everybody to human form. Thinking quickly, the frog replied, "Those signs represent the spirits of the teams you will be on when you get the chance to work." He knew he still had the gift that had made him such a good teacher all those years. "You are in the Tanuki team, and the Tanuki symbolizes intelligence, hard work, and hard play." Lin was quite impressed and pleased. "Wow! What about the snails?"
The old frog couldn't think of anything that might work. "I'll tell you later, Lin-chan. Get back into your seat."
None of this had deterred Lin from sneaking into Ae's classroom whenever she found the opportunity. Each time, the old frog would remove her with a mild warning and never punished her. Yubaba had firm control over what was to be taught in the classrooms, but she did let the children be children and gave the teachers wide latitude in discipline. Her much more demanding discipline would wait until they were big enough to go to work.
Unfortunatley for Lin, that loose policy came to an abrupt halt. One morning, Yubaba was inspecting the bath facilities when she saw streak marks on one of the windows. "Aniyaku!" She called out. "What is this?" Aniyaku, the assistant manager, approached and examined the window.
"It looks like writing, Yubaba-sama--finger writing, I'd say."
"I can tell it's finger writing. Somebody has been practicing the character for water. Not only are they wasting time, they are making the place look messy to our customers. Have this cleaned up immediately!"
"Yes, Yubaba-sama." Aniyaku looked humble on the outside, but was steaming mad inside. The bath floor was his personal responsibility, and somebody had caused him to look bad in front of the boss. He could only think of one place to get an answer: Ae's classroom.
"Ae-san," he started, still a bit winded from his one-flight climb to her empty classroom, "I think one of your pupils is practicing writing skills on my windows. Yubaba says it's the character for water."
Ae was beginning to get heated. "Yes, we studied that character yesterday. Today we do tree and tomorrow we'll do gold. Is there a problem with that?"
"There certainly is a problem with that. I don't know who's doing it nor do I care. Just make sure it stops. I'll take this to Chichiyaku, the general manager, if it continues."
"You can tell Yubaba to buy us some more paper, so we can practice our writing. I only get one sheet per student per day, and with Lin..."
"Lin?" asked Aniyaku. "What's Lin doing in your class? She's in the old frog's classroom."
Ae knew immediately that she said too much. She tried to recover, "Lin sneaks in from time to time for a few minutes. She's really eager to learn, but she knows she belongs in the frog's class."
"Ae-san, I don't want to hear of Lin sneaking into your classroom, or I'll make sure Yubaba hears about this. I also don't want Lin or you to get into trouble, so consider this a very strong warning." Aniyaku looked very serious about it, so Ae was forced to get serious about it.
Later that day, with classes underway, Ae heard the familiar sound of the sliding door opening. Lin was sneaking in again. Without glancing toward the door, she curtly announced, "Lin, return to your class." The door slowly closed and a sense of deep sadness overcame the young teacher. She was well-trained in her own arts, as she was able to hide her feelings from her class, but she felt she just tossed water on a fire. It was one of the most painful things she had to do as a teacher.
The next few days went without any attempts to sneak in. Ae felt she had broken Lin's spirit, and the thought of that was beginning to overcome her facade of cheerfulness. She had to find out how Lin was taking the exile. She went down the short hallway to the old frog's classroom. "Kaeru-jiisan," she addressed the frog, "may I talk with you about Lin?"
"Yes, of course."
"How is Lin doing? You know, since I had to kick her out."
"She's doing fine, but the sparkle in her eyes has dulled a little. She was in tears when she came back that day, but I knew what was going on and spent a few hours with her explaining the situation. I think she understands. ...and I know she doesn't blame you for not letting her in."
"If it's any help, Kaeru-san, I've prepared this homework for her to practice." She pulled out four sheets of precious paper and a pencil. "It's four days' worth of work and I expect her to get this back to me by the day after tomorrow."
"I'll give it to her, Ae-san. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."
"Also, could you please ask her not to practice writing on the windows?"
The old frog was a bit embarrassed. "Is that what this is about? I hate to admit it, but I am the guilty party. Lin taught me the character for water the other day, and I practiced writing it all over the steamy windows that evening. I thought I had cleaned them all up."
Ae was really pleased hearing that she had an effect on the frog. "Really? Do you want me to assign you homework as well?"
"No." he replied. "I'm too old, but water is very important to us frogs--look!" He then started drawing the character on his desk's surface with his finger. "How's that?"
"Very good, kaeru-san," she started entering teacher mode, "but don't lift your finger here." She pointed to the left side of his character. "This part is one stroke, not two. Try it again..."