dearest father we both know well the need for discipline preceding the evening meal

and nobody agrees more than I the value of exercising mental restraint in order to prepare for future efforts in good behaviour

so too we both know I am the best boy out there, as we tch and tsk at the badly behaved ones

(even though I cannot tch and tsk, we share our understanding glances)

but let me implore you once more, my generous father, in your wisdom to say that blessed word, the one that makes my heart soar

‘release!’

because it is just so hard to wait

and I am such a patient young man, and surely we can now come to recognise that I have truly learned all there is to know about discipline

because what expert tutelage I have enjoyed!

and those delicious morsels should indeed be an adequate reward for my very best behaviour

(remember that it must be your beloved wife who spreads soil from the pots; not I father, not your loving son)

and so we are agreed and I love you all the more

your ever adoring and supremely obedient son Totoro.