Japanese Reader: Excursion

The Japanese school year begins in April, and primary school readers contain frequent seasonal references, as in さくら (cherry blossoms) in the previous post. えんそく, outing or field trip, is the subject of the current entry. It's a bright morning. Morning sun. We'll go together. First graders. Let's sing. We're happy. Smiles all around, an outing. Let's draw. Tasty snacks. Atop the hill. A path through the woods. A breeze is blowing. The new leaves are fluttering. The rays of the sun also gleam and flicker. Rendered into English, the lyrical, singsong Japanese becomes choppy, graceless.