Hanashippanashi 21

One of my favorite chapters.

Hanashippanashi 21

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Chapter 21: The sounds of the bells come from your mouth, right?

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Whenever she talks, it makes the sound of a bell ringing.

Ah, welcome. *Chiri Chiri *Chiri Chiri

430 Yen please, *Chiri *Chirin
*Gasa *Gasa

That's right, but I think they'll be arriving around next week. *koro chiri chiri *koro *chiri

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Why does that happen?

Ahh, you mean, the bells? *Chiri Chiri *Koro Koro Koro

It's not because I've got any bells with me. *Chiri Chiri *Chiri

Listen, the sound comes from way back in my mouth, right? *Koro Koro *Chiri Chiri

Yeah, from what it feels like, it should be around here... *Chiri Chiri Chiri *Chirin

It's like it's ringing out. *koro koro *chiri

There's a bamboo forest [thicket] behind my house. *chiri chiri *chirin

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When you snap one of the boughs of a withering bamboo it makes a really nice sound. *Chiri Koro Chiri [Do bamboo trees have boughs?]

Sort of like a string instrument. *Chirin
And I liked that a lot. I still go into that forest all the time... *Chiri Koro Koro *Chiri

One sunny afternoon, I felt like I could hear the sounds of bells from above my head.

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*Chiri Chiri

They came falling down without a noise...

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and rang out, all at once, on the earth's surface.

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That sound is still stuck in my ears. *Chiri Chiri *Koro
But, no matter how much I looked, I couldn't find any of the bells at all. *Chirin *Chiri *Chiri Chiri

But, at that moment,

one of them made a sound from the bottom of my womb.

And that one's still ringing out right now. *Chiri Chiri *Chiri

You know, I might even be pregnant with a bamboo child. *korokoro *chiri chiri