Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume4 Postscript
Postscript
I know this is sudden, but do you do "nakakiyo" at your house?
Hello, this is Konno.
What's "nakakiyo?" -You probably flipped to the postscript before finishing the novel.
No, no problem. I'm not criticizing you or anything. A lot of people read the postscript first, so authors tend to write with that in mind, anyways.
If "nakakiyo" doesn't ring a bell, how about "treasure boat?" Do you put a sailboat under your pillow before seeing your first dream? Or is it still a "what's that?"
As for why I asked, my household did it every year, but no one I know does it, so I realized it was an extremely minor thing. So I wondered what would happen if I took a survey.
But this is just my own curiosity, so there's nothing to gain by answering. If you're kind enough to reply anyways, I would be very happy if you added a side note of "we do it!" or "we don't! in your letters. (<- you're just going to be happy!?)
However, customs are interesting, aren't they.
We live in Tokyo, but we follow customs and charms and that sort of things through our daily lives (not really any religion, just aboriginal, I guess), and depending on where you live, you have a whole set of unique customs, too, so I thought, "wow" while reading letters from friends and relatives.
But it must be tough for those of you with commandments like "don't talk to anyone while eating futomaki." If I could become invisible, I'd certainly like to observe a family following that. It'd be pretty cool if everyone was sitting side by side like moai statues. Oh, but I guess in that sort of instance, no one would pick up the phone, either?
Of course, this custom gets less strict in some places, too. "While eating futomaki, there's nothing about limits of what direction you sit or that you can't talk," I heard, from other people. Speaking of which, is it a custom to eat futomaki on Setsubun? At our household, all we do is throw beans at each other, and then eat a number of beans corresponding to the year. But I think it's more widespread than "nakakiyo."
By the way, "nakakiyo" isn't really a Konno custom so much as something my mother brought to Tokyo as a tool for getting married. And my mother wasn't really any nobility like aunt Sayako, she's just a regular commoner. I don't even know if an ancestor ever took in a prestigious (in my opinion), elegant custom, ever.
Speaking of which, there are a lot of ideas about first dreams, the night of New Year's Day, the night of the second of January, the night of Setsubun, and other such things, aren't there? I used my knowledge of the second day in the novel. So there are probably many that thought, "Huh?" while reading the story. When do you see "first dreams" in your household?
Also, it's another two-story volume, what did you think?
The first story was the usual series, the second was like a side story. Time flipped back, so "Nagakiyono" takes place a bit before "Rosa Canina."
Oh, so it ends up being a bit like "Forest of Thorns." But this time it's not a tale of tragic love. Some of you may be relieved. But don't be, because the men show up. So those of you who hate Mr. K, I don't strongly recommend "Nagakiyono" to you (… What's an author doing saying that?). Alright, I warned you. So don't complain "men showed up" after reading it. Although I guess this doesn't work for people who read the postscript after reading the novel (laugh).
Do you know of the flower Rosa Canina?
It's not an imaginary flower, it's an existing rose flower. Rosa Canina seeds are often used for Rose Hip Tea. I just found out.
Oh, yes, how do you read "Shirobara-sama?"
A lot of people have asked me this, so I'll answer it here.
You read it as "Rosa Gigantea." Without the –sama. The furigana has –sama, right? But Yumi and other underclassmen call her Rosa Gigantea. This isn't because they're being impolite, but because there's respect built into the title Rosa Gigantea, anyways. That's why I emphasize the "Rosa Gigantea." Likewise for "Rosa Chinensis" and "Rosa Foetida." The "tsubomi" are bouton. That should clear things up (sorry this is for Japanese, they're actually written white-rose-sama, yellow-rose-sama, etc.).
I'm finally almost out of postscript pages.
There're a number of things I think I should explain, but that'll come eventually. Maybe not in postscripts, but inside the novels.
-And.
You'll probably see me next in the year 2000.
Well, gokigenyou everyone. Until then.
Konno Oyuki
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