私：アンカレッジ空港にはカップうどんがあってすごい人気ですよ。
加藤：それでいくらするんですか
私：一杯930円
加藤：それなら食べない方がましだ
〜No Hoo ga Mashi
Watasht: Ankareji kuukoo ni wa kappu udon ga atte sugoi ninki desu yo.
Kato-san: Sore de ikura suru'n desu ka.,
Watashi: Ippai 930 en.
Kato-san: Sore nara tabenai hoo ga mashi da.
Me: They have "cup udon" at Anchorage Airport and is it ever popular.
Mr. Kato: And how much dothey charge for it?
Me: 930 yen a cup.
Mr. Kato: Well, at that price it isn't worth it.
* * *
The last leg of my extended stay in Europe was the northern flight back to Japan with its brief stop in Anchorage. There, with only a few hours to go, everyone was relieved to find that most airport shops had Japanese-speaking clerks (their Japanese a bit rough, I'm afraid) and that a wonderful aroma of shooyu drifted out from kitchens in the back, as if to tempt longings for home even more. The smell, of course, is irresistible for most Japanese (someone not normally prone to Japanese food, even I fell under its spell) and so we all ended up lined up in front of the shop. One hundred francs left over from Paris were exchanged for two bowls of udon (wheat noodles) and takuwan (pickled radishes). I could have had a lunch, dessert included, for the same amount in Paris!
Not having been there, Mr. Kato's response to my paying such a high price is to think it an absurdity and say, "Tabenai hoo ga mashi da." ("It would have beenbetter not to have eaten it").
Mashi na (better, preferable, less objectionable) is used when kyakkan-teki ni mite saikoo (risoo-teki) de wa nai ga dochira ka wo erabu to iu koto nara sono hoo ga mada yoi.
"Sonna ni takai hikookidai wo harau kurai nara Nihon ni iru hoo ga mashi da" ("If you're goint to pay that much for an airplane ticket you'd be better off staying in Japan"). The sense here is not that the person wants to stay in Japan but simply that given the choice of staying or paying...
"Kare to kekkon suru kurai nara isshoo dokushin de ita hoo ga mashi yo" ("If it's a question of marrying him, I'm better off staying permanently single.") with these words many girls oppose parents who have forced a marriage proposal upon them. Of course, the opposite is also possible: "Isshoo dokushin de iru kurai nara kare to kekkon shita hoo ga mashi yo" ("If it's a question of staying permanently single, I'm better off getting married ta him") for itwill be quite lonely to remain permanently single, to end my life as a woman having had no one to open up to and no chance of experiencing the joys of raising a family." For a woman who thinks like this, even if the man who proposes is far from being (hodo tooi) her ideal, she is apt to say yes. And surprisingly, it is just these sort of women who end up very happy. Though he receives a low salary and we live in a small apartment, "Kare to wakareru kurai nara shinda hoo ga mashi yo" ("I'd rather die than have to break up with him"). I'd say this is what "real" happiness is all about.