Little

Features: Mr. Okhotsk, Pon

Kettle ← Little → Makes

Little is one of the 27 words in Rolypolys no Nanakorobi Yaoki.

Plot

We are shown a sansho pepper plant, and information about the plant appears beside it. Mr. Okhotsk picks one of the peppers from the plant and feeds it to Pon. The pepper is shown going through Pon's digestive system, in the style of a detailed anatomical diagram. Once the pepper is digested, Pon unleashes a fart so explosive that it sends him flying into the sky.

Sansho

English name: Japanese Pepper

Variety: Mikan family deciduous shrub

Also known as: Hajikami (Prickly ash)

Origin: Japan, Korea, China

Flowers: Greeny-yellow flowers in April-May; Male and female varieties.

Applications: Edible (spice), Medicinal (stomach conditioning, insecticide, antidote)

Proverb

"A little body often harbors a great soul."

Pon is still flying from eating the pepper, but then the effect wears off and he falls back down to the ground.

Explanation

Literally: Even a small grain of Japanese pepper is bitingly hot.

Haven't you found that the smallest chili peppers are usually the hottest? Well, the same applies to Japanese "sansho" pepper-and many times, to people and things around us. This is why we must avoid judging a book by its cover, remembering that, indeed, good things also come in small packages. Pon made the mistake of underestimating the potency of the tiny, apparently innocuous, sansho pepper. It seems he got a free ride out of it, though.