私：「ずいぶん船が揺れますね」
船長：「これはまだ序の口ですよ。外洋に出るともっと揺れますよ」
Jo no Kuchi
Watashi: Zuibun fune ga yure masu ne.
Senchoo: Kore wa mada jo no kuchi desu yo. Gaiyoo ni deru to motto yuremasu yo.
Me: The ship certainly rocks and rolls a lot.
Captain: Oh, this is nothing. Wait until we get out into the open sea.
* * *
Jo no kuchi refers to the start of something difficult or troublesome.
Sekai Seinen no Fune, a project of the Management and Coordination Agency with a budget of some ･640 million, carries 13 lecturers and many students, mostly in their 20s, from 13 different countries. Ours is the first Japanese liner to pass through the Suez Canal in 50 years.
Though we leave Harumi under sunny skies, as we near Okinawa the following day we confront a tropical storm. The ship, of course, begins to rock and roll, the horizon, to move up and down, and the things on my cabin desk to fall to the floor. At dinner that night the captain tells us, "Kono yurekata nara mada jo no kuchi" ("This kind of movement is only the beginning; the worst is yet to come.") What could be worse, I think. No one has to wait long to find out, however-a tempest descends upon us that night. First a copying machine tumbles off a table, then glasses crash to the floor, and finally a large desk-top word processor and its desk are overturned. Shelves deposit their contents on the floor, where everything slides back and forth everytime the ship plunges up and down, left and right in the angry ocean. I feel helpless sitting in my cabin. Kino wa mada jo no kuchi deshita (Yesterday had only been a warmup.)
One of the lecturers on board is a real comedian. Though English is the common language on the ship, he often suddenly mixes in Japanese when he tells a joke.
"You really are able to come up with some funny jokes, aren't you?" "Kore wa jo no kuchi ni sugimasen." ("I'm just warming up.") Wait till next week. Then the jokes will really break you up. Kore ga jo no kuchi da to shitara, raishu wa taihen na koto ni nari so desu (If he's only warming up now, we're in for quite a time next week.)
There are two ping-pong tables on board. With the ship pitching back and forth, however, no one is able to play their best. As the ship approaches Singapore and the temperature topside reaches 36ｰC (and the air-conditioning is little relief), one of the German boys, however, really begins to land his smashes at the ping-pong table. When I compliment him he replies that with a little more practice he'll really be tough to beat. "Kore wa jo no kuchi ni sugimasen" ("I'm just getting going.")
There are seminars on board the ship everyday. After two hours in the morning the students have just about had it.
"We can't study anymore," they exclaim.
Though I tell them, "Benkyo wa mada jo no kuchi desu." ("But we've just started studying.") There are three more hours in the afternoon. Hang in there!
I'm sure few will actually show up at 1:00! Oh well.