Ask me another

Title

Ask me another

Identifier

A World War II Anecdote

Language

English

Source

Volume XV (Issue No.1) January 1963

Year

1963

Subject

Wit and humor

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

A World War II Anecdote Arun. 1’aXu ANOTHER Japanese education officials in Manila were fond of giv ing the so-called objective type ot examinations. But they often found, much to their chagrin, that their propaganda line did not work as well as they thought even with the school child ren. On June 7, 1943, a set of 18 questinos in “current events’’ was given in an exammination for Grade Six classes in the public schools. The questions were so phras ed as to leave the pupils no choice, and they knew the cliches, but 11-year-old Rosita Verzosa had a pattern all her own. Asked to answer Yes or No, Rosita dashed off the test in no time by simply writing Yes after each odd number and No after each even num ber, and adding, perhaps for effect, definitely after each Yes and No. Here were the questions and Rosita’s answers: 1. Do you want Italy to lose? Yes, definitely, 2. Do you like the Japan ese to win the war? No, definitely. 3. Do you want China and England to win? Yes, definitely, 4. Did America start the war? No, definitely. 5. Are the Americans gent ler in minds than the Japanese? Yes, definitely, 6. Do you feel happier now than before? No, definitely. 7. Are the people poorer now than before? Yes, definitely, 8. Are the Japanese friend ly with children? No, definitely. 9. Is handshaking politer than bowing? Yes, definitely, 10. Are you glad Laurel was shot? No, definitely. JANUARY 1963 31 11. Are the Americans bet ter than the Japan ese? Yes, definitely, 12. Did the Japanese not come to give us inde pendence? No, definitely. 13. Do you want America to win? Yes, definitely, 14. Do you enjoy Nippongo? No, definitely. 15. Do you want the Am ericans to come back? Yes, ‘cause I like comics! 16. Are you anxious to learn Nippongo so you do not have to use English? No, ‘cause I already know English. 17. Who is stronger, Am erica or Japan? Who else? 18. Are you happy when you hear the airplanes every morning? No, they make me wake up so early. What else do you want to know? - H. J. A. THE ANGER IN PAN'S HEART Earth wages war against her children, and under he softest touch hides treacherous claws. The cool waters invite us in to drown; the domestic hearth burns up in the hour of sleep, and makes an end of all. Everything is good or bad, helpful or deadly, not in itself, but by its circumstances. . . . And when the universal music has led lovers into the paths of dalliance, confident of Nature’s sympathy, suddenly the air shifts into a minor, and death makes a clutch from his ambuscade below the bed of marriage. For death given in a kiss; the dearest kindnesses are fatal; and into this life, where one thing preys upon another, the child too often makes its entrance from the mother’s corpse. — Robert Louis Stevenson. 32 Panorama

pages

31-32

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