Miss Moriyama paused a few beats. ‘I did as she said, and tried to listen. I put my ears up close to the adzuki beans, and I had every intention of trying my best. But you know, I didn’t hear a thing. No bean-talk. What about you, Mr Tsujii? Did you ever hear the beans’ voices?’ Sentaro kept walking in silence a few moments. ‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘But I think she meant we should approach the beans as if we could hear their voices.’
