Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)

1st February 2006

Number 28 - Curse of the Season

Yesterday and the day before I took a break from this weblog.
I'm currently struggling with a cold.

Last Sunday I was completely down.
I woke up at noon, ate lunch and then went back to sleep until the evening, then woke up again at nine, ate my dinner, and slept until about 1 a.m.

Yesterday, on Tuesday, it looked like it might be better, but today, Wednesday came and I'm on the ropes, just barely managing to hang in there somehow.

My body is basically fairly tough, but once a year, for some reason always at this time of year as winter turns to spring[1], I collapse.
I try to be very careful, but it seems to be something you just can't prepare for.
Soon it will be time for the pollen to fly[2], but I'm not allergic to that either.

I seen to be particularly weak against fever. When my body temperature exceeds 36.8, I start gasping.
When it reaches 37 everything becomes hazy.

But that said, production of the movie is forging ahead strongly.
I can't possibly rest now.

Producer Suzuki says
"Not catching a cold is just putting a spell on yourself. That's all it is!"
Unfortunately, he didn't tell me the spell.

My method for fighting off colds is simple,
Eat a lot and then just sleep.
I have the feeling that's not so different to Mr. Suzuki.[3]

Translator's Notes

[1]: In Tokyo the worst cold is over by the end of January and early blooming flowers such as plum blossoms are about to start flowering.

[2]: Very many people in Japan have allergies to cedar pollen, which swamps the entire country from March/April to the beginning of summer.

[3]: That is, the eat and sleep method is really just another version of Mr. Suzuki's 'magic spells'.