木村：今日は僕が司会を頼まれているんだ。
佐藤：分かっているよ。僕はおとなしくしているからね。君のお株を奪うつもりは全くないから。
Okabu wo ubau
(Kekkon shiki de)
Kimura: Kyoo wa boku ga shikai wo tanomarete iru'n da.
Sato: Wakatte iru yo. Boku wa otonashiku shiteiru kara ne. Kimi no okabu wo ubau tsumori wa mattaku nai kara.
(At a wedding)
Kimura: I've been asked to be the emcee for the reception.
Sato: I know. I know. Don't worry. I'll stay in line. I have absolutely no intention of beating you at your own game.
Okabu wo ubau means to beat someone at their own game, to be outdone by another in one's own specialty or an area one is good at. Note that one never says simply kabu wo ubau; the o must always be added.
Behind Kimura's warning to Sato is the sense thatJibun no okabu wo ubaware nai yo ni, jozu ni shikai wo shinakute wa. (He has to do a good job of emceeing or risk being outdone.) Indeed, Sato is the better master of ceremonies and okabu thus refers to status, standing or privilege.
It's the wedding day. The ceremony in the hotel's small Shinto hall finishes without incident and the reception begins. Kimura is the emcee and, for a beginner, does a splendid job. In his congratulatory words on behalf of the groom's friends, however, Sato spends about five minutes recalling interesting stories from the groom's past. He then introduces the groom's friends and they share stories of success and failure from their high school days. The audience is soon in stitches. Sato has suddenly become the emcee.
Kimura regretfully thinks to himself, "Yappari, Satoo-kun ni okabu wo ubawarete shi- matta." ("It happened. I got beaten at my own game.") Sato announces: "Next we'll have the groom's friends sing their old school song. And let's have our emcee Mr. Kimura join in." When the singing is over, Sato apologizes to Kimura:
"Shikai yaku wa kimi nanoni warukatta ne.
Kekkyoku, kimi no okabu wo ubau koto ni natte shi- matte gomen ne." ("You were the emcee. I'm sorry I buttin. In the end Iguess I ended up beating you at your own game. Sorry.") Kimura says: "That's okay. Don't wor- ry about it." It's all such a fa- miliar scene.