Picture Book of Meguro Ordinance on Children
Story by Yuichi Kimura, Illustration by Atsuko Suzuki
‘I’m good for nothing,’ is what Timmy, the timid little mouse, always thinks about himself.
After several days of rain, the sun finally appeared and it turned out to be a beautiful day.
Timmy is going on a picnic with his friends.
“Oh~ what a beautiful day.”
While Timmy stopped to gaze up at the sky, he got left behind the others.
He ran desperately to catch up, and when he did, he noticed that no one was even aware that he was missing.
Timmy sighed, “I’m such a slowpoke and that’s why I get left behind.”
When Timmy and friends all stopped to take a break, Billy Bear said, “I brought you all some strawberries,” and he gave everyone some berries, everyone except Timmy.
“What about me?” Timmy said, but he still didn’t get any.
Once again, Timmy felt sad. ‘No one hears me because my voice is so tiny.’
After Timmy and friends reached the river bed they started to prepare for lunch.
Timmy’s job was to gather firewood with Mon and Foxy.
While Timmy gathered small branches in the forest, Mon came by with a large pile of logs.
“Is that all you’ve got?” he said to Timmy, grinning.
Again, Timmy felt useless. ‘I’m good for nothing because I’m so small.’
Timmy wanted to be helpful and gathered many large logs, but the logs were too heavy for the little mouse. He was wobbling and walking in a zigzag because he couldn’t see where he was going.
“Ouch, watch where you’re going!” scolded Foxy when Timmy bumped into her.
Once again, Timmy felt incompetent. ‘I’m so clumsy and that’s why I’m good for nothing.’
But just then,
Timmy heard a deep rumbling sound and got frightened.
‘Ah~…I’m ggggood for nnnnothing bbbbecause I’m a coward,’ Timmy thought.
He told Mon, “Ah~…, I think I want to go inside that cave,” and dashed for it.
“What? What did you say?”
“Hey, you don’t expect us to do all the work, do you?”
Mon and Foxy shouted at Timmy and chased after him. And just when they reached the cave,
the rocks and dirt began to crumble down on them.
“Augh….!” “Hee…!” “Waa….!” They shouted.
They made it into the cave just in the nick of time.
“Phew, we’re saved,” someone said, but the entrance to the cave was completely closed.
It looks like the rain had loosened the dirt and caused a landslide. Mon and Foxy tried pushing out the dirt from the entrance, but it didn’t budge.
“Oh no, what should we do?” someone said.
It was dark as night inside the cave.
Timmy, on the other hand, remained calm as he started to dig.
Luckily, a loose rock fell out and let the outside light in through a small opening.
The small hole seemed just big enough for Timmy to get through.
Timmy turned around to say something to his friends and was shocked to see Mon and Foxy.
They usually look so confident about everything, but look at them now.
Timmy held back his surprise and said calmly, “I’ll slip through this little hole and get some help.”
Mon and Foxy both replied, “I’m depending on you.” “Thank you Timmy.”
Timmy carefully crawled through the hole and kicked the ground with all his might and started running to find other friends. ‘I’ve got to help them!’ He was determined.
When Timmy reached the river bed, Billy Bear and the others were busy preparing for lunch.
“BBBBilly Bear, ssssomething terrible happened,” Timmy cried.
But Billy Bear only said, “Later Timmy. I’m busy cutting up the vegetables right now.”
Then, Timmy tried to tell Rabbity and Boa.
“There…ah…there’s been a landslide!”
“Oh, is that so? I’ll hear more about it when I finish this.”
The two of them told Timmy as they headed for the river to wash the dishes.
But Timmy couldn’t give up. He had to drag everyone to the cave. ‘I have no choice, but to …’ and pulled Boa and Coon’s tails, trying to take them by force.
“Ouch, that hurts!”
“What are you doing?”
Instead, Timmy was shoved away and went rolling on the grass.
‘No one listens to me because I’m good for nothing. Oh well, I tried. It doesn’t matter what happens to them anymore,’ Timmy told himself as he looked up at the sky.
But there, in the sky, he saw the miserable faces of Mon and Foxy, waiting to be rescued.
He couldn’t let them down.
“I have to save them, even if I have to do it alone!”
Timmy grabbed a shovel and dashed back for the cave.
When Timmy reached the cave, he started digging out the dirt from the entrance, but the amount of dirt a little mouse can dig is also very little.
Even then, the little mouse continued digging until his hands were sore and raw.
He was exhausted, too, and his spirits were down. ‘I’m really good for nothing. I’m useless, I’m ……’ Just when he was feeling sorry for himself as usual,
Timmy noticed all his friends running around digging and removing dirt from the cave entrance.
Billy Bear, with a big shovel to match his size, is shoveling tons of dirt in one gigantic dig.
Boa, with a hand shovel in each hand, is digging at a shotgun speed.
Rabbity and Coon are carrying the dirt by the buckets away from the cave entrance.
‘Wow, they’re doing such a great job.’
Timmy just sat in a daze, admiring the works of his friends.
But then he compared what his friends are doing to what little he had done and got really depressed.
‘I’m such a slowpoke and clumsy and… and don’t speak up and so small that I can’t even help save my friends.
Yea, I’m really useless….’ He shut his eyes in despair.
It was just then,
“You’re not useless.” Timmy heard someone say behind him. Timmy turned around and saw Mon and Foxy standing behind him.
“Oh! You’ve been saved!” “Yes, thanks to you,” said Foxy.
“We were thinking back in there that because you are short, you sensed something strange about the ground,” said Mon.
“Because you’re small, you are sensitive to danger and was able to climb out of that small hole,” added Foxy.
“So, you’re not worthless at all. Thanks Timmy”
The others also told Timmy in turn,
“We thought later that because you were so persistent, you must have had something very important to tell us.”
“That’s why we got worried and came here.”
“Yes, Timmy, you came through!”
“You did it, Timmy!”
Timmy couldn’t believe his ears and was lost for words.
Under the clear blue sky, at last, the friends sat down to have lunch together. Everyone was starving. “Let’s eat!”
They all shouted happily and Timmy’s voice could be heard just as loud and clear among the other hungry friends.
おくづけ
目黒区子ども条例のえほん 「すごいよ ねずみくん」英語
さく:きむら ゆういち
え:鈴木アツコ
翻訳、朗読:マリコ ドイオカ
音楽:秋山裕和
企画:にほんごの会くれよん
制作:多言語絵本の会RAINBOW
This work is not for sale, nor for revision, nor for any change.