Totto-Chan, the Little Girl at the Window (15 page)

Tomoe School is a wonderful school; Inside and out, it's a wonderful school!

That day the final bell rang later than usual.

One day at lunch break, after the children had finished eating, Totto-chan was skipping across the Assembly Hall when she met the headmaster. It is perhaps odd to say she met the headmaster when he had been with them all through lunch, but she met him because he was coming from the opposite direction.

"Oh, there you are," said the headmaster. "I've been wanting to ask you something." "What is it?" asked Totto-chan, delighted to think she could give the headmaster
some information.

"Where did you get that ribbon?" he asked, looking at the bow she had in her hair. The expression on Totto-chan's face when she heard that couldn't have been a happier one. She had been wearing the bow since the day before. It was something she had found herself. She went up closer so the headmaster could see the ribbon better.

“It was on my aunt's old school uniform," she said proudly. "I noticed it when she was putting it in a drawer and she gave it to me. Auntie said I was very observant.”

"I see," said the headmaster, deep in thought.

Totto-chan was very proud of the ribbon. She told him how she had Bone to see her aunt and was lucky to find her aunt airing some clothes. Among them was the old- fashioned, long, purple pleated skirt she had worn when she was a schoolgirl. As her aunt was putting it away, Totto-chan noticed something pretty on it.

"What's that?"

At Totto-chan's question, her aunt paused. The something pretty turned out to be this ribbon that was attached to the waistband at the back.

"It was supposed to make you look pretty from the back," said Auntie. "In those days everyone wanted to put a piece of handmade lace there or a wide ribbon tied in a big bow.

She noticed how longingly Totto-chan gazed at the bow as she listened, stroking it and feeling it, and said, "I’ll give it to you. I shan't be wearing it again."

She took some scissors and cut the thread attaching it to the skirt and gave it to Totto-chan. That was how she got it. It really was a beautiful ribbon. It was wide and of very good silk, and had roses and all sorts of designs woven into it. Wide and stiff when it was tied, if made a bow as big as Totto-chan's head. Auntie said the fabric was imported.

While she was speaking, Totto-chan jiggled her head occasionally so the headmaster could hear the rustling sound the ribbon made. When he had heard her story, the headmaster looked a little distressed.

"So that's it," he said. "Yesterday Miyo-chan said she wanted a ribbon just like yours, so I went to all the ribbon shops in Jiyugaoka, but they didn't have anything like it.
So that's it. It's imported, is it?"

His face was more like that of a troubled father importuned by his daughter than of a headmaster.

"Totto-chan, I'd be truly grateful if you'd stop wearing that ribbon to school. You see, Miyo-chan keeps pestering me about it. Would you mind very much?"

Totto-chan thought it over, her arms folded. Then she answered quickly, “All right. I won't wear it here any more." "Thank you," said the headmaster.

Totto-chan was rather sorry, but the headmaster was in trouble, so she had agreed. Another reason was that the thought of a grown-up man--her beloved headmaster- searching high and low in all the ribbon shops, made her feel sorry for him. That was the way it was at Tomoe. Without realizing it, everyone got in the habit of understanding one another's problems and trying to help, irrespective of age. It became the natural thing to do.

The following morning, when Mother went into Totto-chan's room to clean up after Totto-chan had left for school, she found the ribbon tied around the neck of Totto- chan's favorite teddy bear. She wondered why Totto-chan had suddenly given up wearing the ribbon she had been so thrilled about. Mother thought the gray teddy bear looked slightly embarrassed about being dressed so gaily all of a sudden.

For the first time in her life Totto-chan visited a hospital for wounded soldiers. She went with about thirty elementary school children from various schools, children she didn't know. It was part of a scheme recently organized nationally for groups of elementary school children. Each school would normally send two or three children, but small schools like Tomoe only sent one, and the group would be in the charge of a teacher from one of the schools. Totto-chan was representing Tomoe.

The teacher in charge was a thin woman who wore glasses. She led the children into a ward where there were about fifteen soldiers in white pajamas, some in bed and others walking about. Totto-chan had worried about what wounded soldiers would look like, but they all smiled and waved their hands and seemed cheerful so she was relieved, although some had bandages on their heads.

The teacher assembled the children in the middle of the ward and addressed the soldiers.

"We've come to visit you," she said, and the children all bowed. The teacher went on, "Since to-day is the fifth of May-boy's Day-we're going to sing 'Carp Streamers.' "

She raised her arms, like a conductor, said to the children, "Now, ready! Three, four," and began to beat time. The children didn't know each other but they all began
singing whole heartedly:

Over the sea of rooftops, Over the sea of clouds ...

Totto-chan didn't know the song. They didn't teach that sort of song at Tomoe. She sat on the edge of the bed of a man with a kind face who was sitting up, and just listened to them singing, feeling rather awkward. When that song was over, the teacher announced very clearly, "Now we shall sing 'The Doll Festival.' " They sang it beautifully. All except Totto-chan.

Come let us light the lanterns, Light them one by one...
There was nothing Totto-chan could do but remain silent.

When they had all finished singing, the men clapped. The teacher smiled and said, "Now then, what about 'The pony and the Mare'! All together. Three, four," and started beating time again.

Totto-chan didn't know that one either. When the children had finished singing it, the soldier in the bed Totto-chan was sitting on paned her head and said, "You didn't sing."

Totto-chan felt very apologetic. She had come to visit the soldiers and she couldn't even sing them a single song. So she got up, and, standing a little away from the bed, said bravely, "All right. Now I’ll sing one I know.

Something was about to happen that wasn't according to plan. "What are you going to sing!" asked the teacher.

But Totto-chan had already taken a deep breath and was starting to sing, so she decided to wait.

Since she was representing Tomoe, Totto-chan thought she had better sing Tomoe's best-known song. After taking that deep breath, she began:

Chew, chew, chew it well, Everything you eat...
Some of the children laughed. Others asked their neighbors, "What's the song!

What's the song!" The teacher started to beat time, but nor knowing quite what to do, was left with arms in midair. Totto-chan was embarrassed, but she sang for all she was worth:

Chew it and chew it and chew it and chew it, Your rice and fish and meat!

When she finished singing, Totto-chan bowed. When she raised her head, she was astonished to see tears streaming down the face of the soldier. She thought she must have done something bad. And then the soldier, who looked a little older than Daddy, patted her head again, and said, "Thank you! Thank you!"

He went on patting her head, and he couldn't stop crying. Then the teacher said brightly, as if to try and cheer him up, "Now I think it's time to read out the compositions we've written for the soldiers."

The children took turns reading their compositions aloud. Totto-chan looked at her soldier. His nose and eyes were led, but he smiled. Totto-chan smiled back. And she thought to herself, "I'm so glad the soldier smiled!"

What had brought tears to that soldier's eyes, only the soldier knew. Maybe he had a little girl like Totto-chan. Or maybe he was simply touched by the sweet way she sang that song as best she could. Or maybe because of his experience at the war front, he knew how near they all were to starvation, and the thought of this little girl singing "Chew it well" when there might soon be nothing left to chew may have filled him with sadness. The soldier may also have realized what terrible events would soon engulf these very children.

The children, reading their compositions, may not have sensed it then, but the Pacific
War was already well underway.

Showing her train pass on the cord around her neck to the man at the gate--whom she now knew quite well-Totto-chan walked out of the station at Jiyugaoka.

Something very interesting was going on. A young man was sitting cross-legged on a mat behind an enormous pile of what looked like pieces of tree bark. Five or six people stood around looking down at him. Totto-chan decided to join them, since the man was saying, "Now watch me carefully, watch me carefully. When the man saw Totto-chan stop, he said, "The most important thing for you is health. When you get up in the morning and want to know whether you are well or not, this piece of balk will tell you. Ever, morning all you have to do is chew a bit of this bark. If it tastes bitter, it proves you are not well. If it doesn't taste bitter, you know you're all right. You're not ill. This bark that tells you whether you're ill or not only costs twenty sen! Will that gentleman over there care to try a piece!"

He handed the bark to a rather thin man, who timidly bit it with his front teeth. The man tilted his head slightly and considered it.

"It does seem... a tiny bit... uh.., bitter."

The young man leaped up, exclaiming, "Sir, you must be suffering from some disease. You'll have to be careful. But don't worry, it's not very serious yet. You said it just seemed a little bitter. Now what about the lady over there. Would you mind chewing this, please!" A woman with a shopping basket took a larger piece of bark and chewed it vigorously. She announced cheerfully, "Why, that wasn't bitter at all!"

"Congratulations, madam," said the man. "You must be very healthy, indeed." Then he said, raising his voice, “Only twenty sen! Twenty sen! That's all it costs to find out every morning whether you are healthy or not. A real bargain!"

Totto-chan wanted to try a bite of the grayish bark, too, but was too shy to ask. Instead, she asked, "Will you still be here when school's over?"
"Sure," said the man, glancing at the young school child.

Totto-chan ran off, her bag flapping against her back. She didn't want to be late since there was something she had to do before school began. She had to ask the children something the moment she got to her classroom.

"Can anybody lend me twenty sen?"

But nobody had twenty sen. One of those long packers of caramels only cost ten sen, so it wasn't very much money, really, but nobody had it.

"Shall I ask my parents?" asked Miyo-chan.

At times like these it was very convenient that Miyo-chan happened to be the daughter of the head-master. Miyo-chan's house adjoined-the Assembly Hall, so it was just as if her mother lived at the school.

"Daddy says he'll lend it to you," she told Totto-chan at lunchtime, "but he wants to know what it's for."

Totto-chan made her way to the office.
"So you want twenty sen," he said, taking off his glasses. "What do you want it for?" "I want to buy a piece of bark that tells you whether you're sick or whether you’re
well," she replied quickly. The headmaster's curiosity was aroused. "Where are they selling them?"
"In front of the station," she replied, in a great hurry.

"All right," said the headmaster. "Buy one if you want. But let me have a bite, won't you?"
He took a purse out of his jacket pocket and placed twenty sen in Totto-chan's palm. "Oh, thank you so much!" said Totto-chan. "I'll get the money from Mother and pay
you back. She always gives me money for books. If I want to buy anything else I
have to ask first, but health bark is something everybody needs so I'm sure she won't mind."

When school was over, Totto-chan hurried to the station, clutching her twenty sen. The man was still there, extolling his product in a loud patter. When he saw the twenty sen in Totto-chan's hand, he broke into a broad grin.

"Good girl! Your mother and father will be pleased." "So will Rocky," said Totto-chan.
"Who's Rocky?' asked the man, as he picked out a piece of bark for Totto-chan. "He's our dog. He's a German shepherd."
The man stopped and thought for a minute, then said, "A dog ... well, I suppose it'll work with a dog, too. After all, if it's bitter he won't like it and that'll mean he's ill."

The man picked out a piece of bark about one inch wide and six inches long.

"Here you are. Bite some every morning and if it's bitter, you're sick. If not, you're as fit as a fiddle!"

Totto-chan went home carefully carrying the precious bark wrapped in newspaper. The first thing she did when she got there was to take a small bite. It was dry and rough, but not bitter. In fact it didn't taste of anything at all.

"Hooray! I'm healthy!"

"Of course you are," said Mother, smiling. "What on earth's the matter?" Totto-chan explained. Mother tried biting a piece of the bark, too.

“It's not bitter.”

"Then you're healthy, too, Mother!"

Then Totto-chan went over to Rocky and held the bark to his mouth. First Rocky sniffed it. Then he licked it.

"You've got to bite it," said Totto-chan. "Then you'll know whether you're sick or not."

But Rocky made no attempt to bite it. He just scratched the back of his ear with his paw. Totto-chan held the tree bark closer to his mouth.

"Come on, bite it! It would be terrible if you weren't well."

Rocky reluctantly bit a tiny piece off the edge. Then he sniffed it again, but he didn't look as if he particularly disliked it. He just let out a big yawn.

"Hooray! Rocky's healthy, too!"

Next morning, Mother gave Totto-chan twenty sen. She went straight to the headmaster's office and thrust out the tree bark.

For a moment the headmaster looked at it as if to say, "What's this!" Then he saw the twenty sen Totto-chan had brought him, clutched carefully in her hand, and remembered.