December 2011
2 tags
“Well, that’s just like us artisans. You can’t expect perfection when...”
– Nishi from Whisper of the Heart (1995) Mimi o Sumaseba
2 tags
Nishi: It’s a special kind of rock called a geode. Hold it close to your eye and look inside. That’s right, like that.
Shizuku: Wow. Look at that.
Nishi: Those crystals are called beryl. There are pieces of raw emeralds deep inside them.
Shizuku: Aren’t emeralds worth a lot of money?
Nishi: Sure, but they need to be cut and polished first. When you first become an artist, you’re like that rock. You’re in a raw, unnatural state, with hidden gems inside. You need to dig down deep and find the emeralds tucked away inside you. And that’s just the beginning. Once you’ve found your gems, you have to polish them. It takes a lot of hard work. Oh, and here’s the tricky part. Look at the crack in the geode.
Shizuku: Okay.
Nishi: You see that big green crystal there? You could spend years polishing that, and it wouldn’t be worth much at all. The smaller crystals are much more valuable. And there may be some even deeper inside that you can’t see.
