学生：先生、その手紙になんて書いてあるんですか。
私：今日、会いたいって。長い間、ウンともスンとも言ってこなかったのにね。
Un Tomo Sun Totno Iwanai
Gakusei: Sensei, sono tegami ni nante kaite aru'n desu ka.
Watashi: Kyoo aitai'tte. Nagai aida, un tomo sun tomo itte konakatta noni ne.
Student: Professor, what does the letter say?
Me: "I'd like to meet you today." Fancy that. And I hadn't heard a word from him for such a long time.
Un tomo sun tomo iwanai means to give no answer.
The phrase came into Japanese in the 16th century from the Dutch card game term "un sumo carta." Un means ichi (one) and sumo means saiko (the highest). From the phrase "able to say neither the lowest nor the highest" has come the meaning "unable to give an answer." It seems to me that it might also be the case that since Japanese often say "un" when answering, this might have been combin- ed with "sun" because of the pleasant harmony of sounds.
After finishing a series of lectures in Canada, I returned to Yamaguchi only to find my mail box, as always, full of mail. While sifting through the pile I found one from the Central Post Office in Kyoto. To my surprise the letter was without an address; it was simply addressed to: "PROF. MIZUE SASAKI YAMAGUCHI UNIV." I quickly looked at the name on the return address. It was TAPANI! The name im- mediately brought back many fond memories. Tapani had been one of my students at Komaba Ryugakusei Kaikan some 10 years ago. Watashi ga tegami wo dashite mo, un tomo sun tomo itte konakatta (Even though I'd written him letters, there'd been no response).
What a surprise to read that he was in Japan and planning to travel from Kyoto to Kyushu and that he wanted to stop inYamaguchi to see me. "How wonderful it would be if I could see you,'' he'd written. How wonderful indeed! When I looked at the calendar, however, it turned out that the day he was to be in Yamaguchi was TODAY! Nagai aida, un tomo sun tomo itte konakatta noni, totsuzen kon'na tegami wo kureru to wa (I hear absolutely nothing for such a long time and then suddenly this kind of letter appears). I felt a strange mixture of happiness and disappointment. At Komaba, Tapani had been the most popular student. He'd been studying at Tokyo University's Graduate, School and had been a kind of older brother to the other students. What is he doing in Finland these days? Why has he come to Japan? I decided to write him a letter and so looked up his name in my address book. Rare ga, un tomo sun tomo itte konakatta node, kare no jusho wa kesarete ita (Since he'd failed to acknowledge [any of my letters] I'd erased his address). Fortunately I was just able to decipher the address on the envelope. I only pray he still lives there. "Tapani, mata, un tomo sun tomo itte konakattara, watashi wa honto ni gakkarishite shimau (if you fail to answer again, I'll really be disap- pointed). " There's a proverb in Japanese which goes, "Saru mono wa hibi ni utoshi (The memory of those departed fades day by day)." I'm hoping this doesn't happen to Tapani and me.