Vocabulary

bombastic; pretentious; exaggerated

(verbal) message; sending word

(philosophy of) not rocking the boat; (principle of) letting sleeping dogs lie

childish; childlike; immature; infantile

to smash to pieces

maid; handmaid

alternately; in succession

sunlight filtering through trees

changing one's clothes

(flowing) copiously

thundering; roaring; rumbling; booming

bold; daring; dauntless; intrepid; stout-hearted

obstinacy; stubbornness

bravery; prowess

five-storied pagoda

the five continents; Asia, Africa, Europe, America and Australia; Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America

sycophancy; toadying; apple-polishing; brown-nosing; sycophant; flatterer

the five Confucian filial-piety relationships

wit and intelligence

going to the source; tracing to the origin

chazuke with salmon

trifling; trivial; slight

turban shell (any mollusc of the family Turbinidae, esp. the horned turban, Turbo cornutus)

to misplace; to put in the wrong place

something small; something petty; trifle

to manipulate figures to one's advantage; to count wrongly on purpose; to inflate or deflate one's age

Japanese halfbeak (Hemiramphus sajori); stickleback

to carry off; to run away with; to sweep away; to snatch; to kidnap; to abduct

(not) at all; (not) in the least; (none) whatsoever

bleaching; soaking

rustling

(river) delta

three famous beauty spots

three-times-three exchange of nuptial cups

in groups of twos and threes; in small groups; (in groups of) threes and fives

deep admiration

third cockcrowing

prank; practical joke

finishing up

helplessly; reluctantly; as a last resort