Fox News - plus, Japanese Diary 22

[steepholm]

I'm beginning to think that the fox from a few nights ago is stalking me - whether literally or metaphorically I'm not certain. At midnight last night it was outside my window screaming loudly and repeatedly. (For those who may not be familiar with the sound, you listen here. I can't stress enough how well it carries on the midnight air.). I wondered if it was in pain, but when I peered out it was just sitting calmly beside my car, screaming. God knows I can relate to that. At length a disgruntled looking man in socks emerged from a nearby house and walked up and down, slapping his thigh, presumably in an attempt to intimidate it, but the fox (who wasn't in socks) watched this performance with disdain, and only when the man had retreated to his doorway did it slink away.

Then this evening I was in my Japanese class a couple of miles away in Clifton, when someone sitting opposite me cried "Are wa kitsune desu!" (or words to that effect). Turning, I saw my fox - or possibly one of its close associates - sitting a couple of yards behind me on the flat roof just outside the window. It sat so long that I decided to take a picture, but (as is the way of animals) it moved away just before I pressed the button.

Meanwhile, I learn that the Japanese word for "ring finger" is "kusuriyubi" - which is to say, "medicine finger". I wonder why?

Comments

[larryhammer]

I can't confirm this explanation for "medicine finger" is correct, but it's the only one I've ever seen.

ETA: At least the kitsune was "are" and not "sore"!

---L.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. It makes sense (in terms of language, not so much of hygiene).

It was "are" from where the speaker was sitting, but virtually "kore" for me!

[jemck.livejournal.com]

Before reading that fascinating explanation for 'medicine finger', my first thought was to recall being taught many years ago, to focus my pre aikido stretches from 'ring finger' to the corresponding toe because that was the line of a key shiatsu meridian.
Relevant? Who knows...

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly! How interesting!

[sovay]

Please consider this conjunction of events a formal request for writing about kitsune?

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I've a feeling the fox may demand a half share of the royalties. But let us see first whether the conjunction is yet concluded: perhaps my vulpine adventures are only just about to begin...

[stormdog.livejournal.com]

Your talk of learning Japanese is making me miss the time when I had the opportunity to take some classes at the Japan America Cultural Center in Chicago. Someday I'll get back to it.