先生：もう4時ですよ。そろそろ帰りましょうか。
学生たち：えっ、もうそんな時間ですか。あまり楽しくて時がたつのを忘れていました。
Toki ga Tatsu no wo Wasureru
(Supeesu Waarudo de)
Sensei: Moo yoji desu yo. Sorosoro kaerimashoo ka.
Gakuseitachi: E, moo sonna jikan desu ka. Amari tanoshikute toki ga tatsu no wo wasurete imashita.
(At Space World)
Teacher: It's already 4 o'clock. I think it's about time we were heading home.
Students: What! It's already that late? I guess we were having such fun we lost all track of time.
* * *
Toki ga tatsu no wo wasureru means to lose track of time. It's the kind of thing that happens when you are really absorbed in doing something or having a wonderful time.
Are you familiar with the Japanese fairy tale about Urashimataroo? A fisherman walking along the beach one day finds a tortoise being bothered by some children. The fisherman befriends the tortoise and helps it return to the sea. A few days later, the same tortoise returns to the fisherman and says "Please come with me. Get on my back and I will take you to the Palace of the Dragon King." Urashimataroo agrees. When they arrive he is greeted by the beautiful Princess of the Dragon Palace. She prepares a grand banquet and the fish perform a wonderful dance. Urashimataroo wa, amari ni mo tanoshikute, toki ga tatsu no mo wasurete imashita (Urashimataroo was having such a wonderful time he lost complete track of time). Before he knew it three days had passed.
The princess spoke. "So you must return now? Well then as a present please take this casket with you." Urashimataroo mounted the tortoise and was taken back to his village. When he arrived though he didn't recognize anyone. What had been three days in the world under the sea, had been decades on the surface ! The troubled Urashimataro opened the casket he'd received as a gift. White smoke came pouring out. Soon his hair turned grey and he became an old man.
When I was a child I loved this story. I was fascinated by the ideas that time passed differently under the sea and that time passes quickly when you're having fun. A similar fairy tale apparently exists on an island in Southeast Asia. This fact seems to be helping scholars trace the roots of the Japanese people.
Kodomo no koro wa, toki no tatsu no mo wasurete asobi mawatta mono da (When I was a child, I lost all track of time playing around). As an adult, however, I rarely have such experiences. Except the other day when I went to Space World in Kokura near Fukuoka with some foreign students. We went on an adventure to the moon and boarded a space ship and traveled inside Saturn's rings. Toki no tatsu no mo wasurete tanoshinda (We lost track of time having fun). Travel- ing through space on our little trip we screamed as meteors came hurtling toward us. We were drained when the trip was over.
Why not make a visit there yourself? I'm sure you too will lose all track of time.