When they stopped
after slipping down more than 10m, the rabbit gave a fearful scream.
gIt was finally
done! Ever since I became an apprentice to Mr.Kutsuzawa Asaji, I have always
been dreaming of this scene for more than 4 years. I have lived for this day!h
I cried out holding a tree nearby. I could hardly stand by myself for joy. I
kept shedding tears in the snow that was falling heavily.
I had been fascinated by falconry since I was a boy and had no hesitation to choose a way to a falconer when I graduated from university. But the way was far harder than my expectation. Though I loved animals very much, it took a lot of patience for me to train the hawk that would never lose the wild nature. Not only in the first year that I became an apprentice, but in the second and the third year, I could not get any game. I ever felt anger with Kabu when he did not attack a rabbit that sprang out of the side of me, though I knew that all the causes of the failure were in my inexperience. Besides, I had to go over many snowy mountains to find game such as rabbits and martens because they had been decreasing year by year. It was very hard. But I never thought of giving up to become a falconer. And then, that day came.
I wonft forget the great feeling of joy at that time all my life. I
think that the moment I caught my first game was the starting point of my life
as well as my career as a falconer. That day, I wished to live in nature and
pursue game together with my hawk in the snowy mountains until I died.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Matsubara Hidetoshi