Orusuban Tenji – The House Sitting Angel

Orusubantenshi, or house sitting angel, is a book about a little boy who is visited by an angel while staying home alone while his mom is at work. This is another book published by Tully’s Coffee that I have read.

The story goes:
「きょうはおるすばんだ。なにをしようかな」そうしたらまどのそとからこえがきこえてきた。「いまおるすばんっていったよね？」「やあやあ、よいしょ」「わあ！だれだ！」「おるすばんてんしだよ」おかしいな。てんしはもっとかわいいはず。「わっかとはねがあるだろう。だからてんしだよ」「いっしょにあそぼうとおもってきたんだ」「そうなの。じゃあ」てんしとかくれんぼ！「どこかなー」でもぼくはしってる。てんしのわっかがソファーのうえでひかってる。てんしとおやつ！「ドーナッツおいしいな」「あれ。わっかとドーナッツがどっちかわからなくなっちゃった」てんしとたいそう！「いっちに、さんし！」「ごおろく、しち、はち」あれあれてんしはせなかがいたい。てんしとおふろ！「みてみて！ソフトクリーム！」てんしとおふろはきもちがいいな。てんしとトイレ！「まだですかー！」てんしのトイレはちょっとながい。「ああ。たのしかったなあ。ねえ, おるすばんてんしはどうしてぼくのところにきてくれたの？」「…それはね」カチャ「ただいま！おるばんどうだった？」「たのしかったよ！だっていまね、おるばんてんしがきてるんだよ。」ぼくはかえってきたママにいってリビングのほうをみた。「あれ？」「おるすばんてんしって？」もういえのどこをさがしてもおるすばんてんしはいなかった。またつぎのおるすばんであえるかな。

Some ことば (vocabulary):

おるすばん = house sitting

てんし(天者) = heavenly person (angel)

わっか = ring (but in this case halo)

はね = feathers (but in this case feathered wings)

おやつ = snack

「いっちに、さんし！」「ごおろく、しち、はち」 = 「一二、三四！」「五六、七、八」

きもちがいい = good feeling

カチャ = sound?

だっていまね = still now

かえってきた = to return

さがして = to search

The translation and explanation I believe would be:
A little boy said to himself, “I’m staying at home today, what shall I do?” then he could hear a voice from outside the window. The voice says, “you’re staying home right now, right?” and the little boy replies with a sound of surprise and agreement and also says, “good point” then says, “Huh, who is [saying] that?” and the voice replies “[I am a] house sitting angel.” The boy then thinks to himself, “strange, angels are suppose to be cuter” but then reasons by saying that “he has a halo and wings therefore he is an angel.” The house sitting angel then says, “I was thinking we could play together” and the boy replies, “is that so? Well, then…” and the house sitting angel and the boy play hid and seek. The little boy proclaims, “Where… [could the house sitting angel be hiding]” even though he already knows where he is because his halo is glowing above the couch. Then the boy wants to share a snack with the house sitting angel. They eat doughnuts together and the little boy proclaims, “doughnuts are delicious” but then states that “[he] cannot tell the difference between the doughnut and the house sitting angel’s halo. And then the little boy exercises with the house sitting angel. They count eight repetitions of different exercises before the house sitting angel’s back starts to hurt. Then they take a bath together. The little boy exclaims, “look, look, ice cream” while playing with the bubbles in the bath. The little boy notes that the bath with the house sitting angel feels good. Then the little boy and the house sitting angel use the toilet, but the house sitting angel fell asleep on the toilet and tells the little boy “not yet” when he is calling out to use the toilet. The little boy notes that the house sitting angel’s [time using the] toilet is a little bit long. Finally, the little boy says, “it was fun” and asks the house sitting angel, “why did you come to my place?” and just as the house sitting angel was about to answer following a long drawn out “well…” the little boy’s mother returns. After opening the door, she proclaims that “[she] is home” and asks her son “how was [your time of] staying at home?” and the little boy answers that it was “fun! because a house sitting angel came, and that even now he is still there” The little boy returns to the living room with his mom to see the house sitting angel, but he is no longer there. The little boy hopes that next time he has to stay at home that the house sitting angel will return. On the last page there is a framed photo sitting on a desk of an old man that looks like the house sitting angel holding a baby boy who looks like the little boy, so from that we discover that the house sitting angel is actually the little boy’s grandpa who passed away when the boy was younger.

Such a heartwarming story. Check out the homepage for updates on newest posts, hopefully I will continue to read and review children’s books, but either way you are likely to find something new and interesting. Thanks for reading ^_^