A Centaur's Life (セントールの悩み)

There you go.

It's fine that you're going out to play,

but don't take your eyes off Sue-chan.

Don't worry. We know.

Sue-chan's so tiny and cute, people always want to take her right away.

Wait just a minute. What does that mean?

Nothing.

Don't hurt me!

Don't say things that sound so bad.

I've never hit you, have I?

No lectures, either!

That'll depend on you three.

Well, see...

Mew!

You want us to rub your tummy?

Meow!

Sue-chan, want to rub him, too?

Meow...

Mew.

Want to go inside now?

M-Mew?

Meow, meow! Meow, meow!

Meow?

Meow!

Move!

Now, Yoshi, Sue-chan isn't your doll.

Mew...

I do seem to recall a time they came home smelling like dog...

And? What else?

Well, um...

That's outside, this is inside.

So I can go this far.

Sue-chan's gone!

Sue-chan!

Where are you, Sue-chan?

Where did you bring her from?

Nee-nee... Nee-nee...

She was lying around.

That way!

Sue-chan!

There she is!

Hey! You thief!

Give her back!

No! I found her!

She's my baby sister now.

No! Mew...

Is she your little sister? I'm sorry.

Now, let her go!

Nee-nee... Nee-nee!

I see.

So that's why the oldest Kawamoto sister is always apologetic toward me.

G-Good morning.

Morning.

Chi-chans!

We can go now, right?

Yes, you can.

Be sure you don't let her out of your sight.

We know.

You say that, but I know you really won't.

There...

Be home by dark, you two.

Okay.

Bye!

Going for a walk, going for a walk...

Nee-tan, Nee-tan.

There are all different kinds of grass, aren't there?

That's right.

But they're all still grass?

No, not at all.

All the grasses in the field have their own names, too.

What about this fluffy one?

That's green foxtail.

We call it "enokoro grass" in Japanese,

because it looks like the tail of a puppy (inukoro).

What about this one?

Indian goosegrass.

And this?

That's evening primrose.

Not long ago, yellow flowers bloomed on them in the early morning.

Look at the little white flowers!

It's daisy fleabane.

Red flowers!

Red clovers.

Sow thistle.

Creeping woodsorrel.

The boys play swords with these!

That's Canada goldenrod.

Do all the plants here have their own names?

They do.

Even the smallest grasses and flowers have names.

This is called red clover.

Good, you remembered.

It has a name?

It's not just a red flower?

Yeah. Even the smallest grasses and flowers have names.

My name is Mi-chan.

Shino-chan. Maki-chan.

That's different!

You can have red blocks with some shaped like triangles and some like squares, right?

That's a triangle.

That's a circle.

That's right.

Just like with blocks, flowers come in lots of shapes,

and they all have names.

Like flowers?

But the triangle can be square, too.

And the circle can be square, too.

Um, um...

But the square block only has square sides,

and the circle has a circle side, and the triangle one has a triangle side, right?

Are there any that are only triangles or only circles?

One that's only triangles would be pointy,

and one that's only circles would be a ball.

It's only a circle!

But you can't stack it if it's only a circle.

That's why blocks always have a square side.

There...

You don't have to try so hard...

There...

That looks kind of fun.

This purple flower is a kind of aster.

This has prickly leaves and pointy purple flowers.

They're thistles.

They're not purple flowers?

There are different purple flowers, like with triangle and circle blocks.

That's cosmos.

It has eight petals.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

You're very good at counting.

Nee-tan, Nee-tan!

This is, um... red morning glory!

That's right, Maki-chan! Very good!

This is buckwheat.

Buckwheat?

Uh-huh. After it flowers, you pick the fruit and turn it into powder.

That's what they use to make the soba noodles you eat.

They're all white and cute.

Even smaller flowers than this have their own names.

Oriental lady's thumb.

See how it has lots of tiny red flowers on it?

But there's no thumb.

Nobody knows why some of them are named the way they are.

Why?

Plant Expert

Someone came up with it a long time ago,

Imperial University Doctor

and they told it to more and more people.

Nee-tan

Eventually, nobody knows how the name came about anymore.

The flowers have lots of little bumps.

Yeah.

Some people use it as red rice when they play house.

That's why it's sometimes called a "red rice flower," too.

You know so much, Nee-tan!

My onee-chan taught me about this stuff, too.

So when both of you are old enough to be onee-chans,

teach it to some younger kids, okay?

Okay!

Good morning, Miss Teacher!

Good morning.

Miss Teacher, this is awful!

The flowers are gone!

Oh, here? That's because we pulled up all the weeds.

Who? Who pulled them up?

Maki-chan, first of all, put your fists down.

Nee-tan, it's terrible!

The flowers are all gone!

It's okay. The seeds are still there somewhere,

so they'll flower again next fall.

And before that, there'll be spring flowers,

and when they're gone, there'll be summer flowers.

So when that happens, let's look at them together, okay?

Okay...

You make a very good older sister, Shino-chan.

You saw us looking at the flowers yesterday, right?

Huh? Well, but... It had to be done.

I understand. It's grown-up stuff, right?

I hope I get to be a grown-up soon, too.

When all sides are triangles, it's called a triangular pyramid.

All of these pointed shapes are called pyramids.

One with a square bottom is called a square pyramid.