In this short scene, the narrator tells us that he's been playing the Japanese card game, karuta, for 32 years. He's hoping that his grandfather's grandson will be the next great player, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to hold his own against the best players in the country today. The narrator is also worried about the fact that the tournament is being played in front of a huge audience, and he wonders why there's so much interest in the match. He wonders why the audience is so big, and wonders if it's because of the quality of the players. He also wonders if the match was easy, because he hasn't had to face anyone who's beaten the queen before. The audience seems to be distracted by the match, and the narrator is worried about what's going to happen to his chances of winning. He thinks that the match is going to be a hard one, because the queen is so good. The crowd seems to think that the game is easy, and they're all cheering for the queen. The queen wins, but the crowd thinks that she lost because she lost to a boy in the same class as her.