If I Gave Up Now
もし今やめたら
Even with the notes, Haru's hands were still and far too slow.
The old woman's diary needed skills that he simply did not have.
"If I gave up now, her husband's words would be lost forever," he thought.
He knew that he should not a promise he had already made.
If he were a true craftsman, he would repair the book without any fear.
But every time he tried, the fragile pages seemed to him to stop.
"I ought to find someone who can teach me," Haru finally admitted.
He had heard that one old bookbinder still worked on the other side of town.
People said that the man was famous but that he refused almost every .
"If I asked him, he would probably send me away," Haru feared.
Yet he understood that he should try, whatever the answer might be.
If he stayed , he would always wonder what he could have done.
Haru decided that was something he ought to leave at the door.
If he wanted to keep his word, he had to his head and ask.
The next morning, he walked to a tiny shop that was about to close forever.
An old man sat inside, wrapping his tools in cloth for the last time.
The man looked up slowly, surprised that anyone still wanted to learn.
Haru bowed deeply and said that he needed to a dying skill.
"You should go home," the old man replied. "This craft has no future."
"If I believed that, I would not be standing here," Haru answered quietly.
He explained that an old woman was waiting for a book that carried her husband's life.
The old man was , studying the young face that would not look away.
"If your heart is really this stubborn," he said slowly, "then perhaps we should begin."
Haru realised that his real training, and his real test, had only now started.