とある竹林で　ご住職との会話

「和尚様　この竹は葉が10枚ほどしか付いていません　伐りますね」

『どれですか　　　…うん　残しとこ　ようさん付いてるよ…　歯無いのは私や』

確かに　よく見ると10枚以上　いやいや100枚くらい付いてるかもしれません

何とも楽しく　しみじみゆかしき　秋の暮れ

One day in a bamboo forest...

I talked with a temple master.

“This bamboo has only about 10 leaves. I will cut it.”

“Which one…? Well we’ll keep it. There are still many. It’s me who has no teeth (=’ha’ in Japanese which has the same pronunciation with ‘leaf’)”

Actually when I looked carefully, there were more than 10 or even 100 leaves on the bamboo.

It was a heartwarming day of late autumn.

(translated by c.n.)