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THE PRICE OF REFINEMENT

Trimming arm-thick branches away from the roof with a hand saw up in a hinoki tree some 15 meters above the ground in a high wind is a lot like teaching English. You can't relax completely, even for a second. When I came down after monkeying and holding on for dear life for over an hour with legs, arms, hands, fingernails, back, feet, toes, teeth, hair, eyelashes, whatever I could muster to the cause while leaning far out and cutting for dear life, I could barely lift my cup of tea, let alone the pinky of refinement.