Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

Manjiro tried to put his heart in order. He said a sutra – a prayer – for his ancestors, his family, his friends, and for himself. Then he waited for his heart to go back where it belonged instead of jumping all over inside his chest.

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

Manjiro tried to put his heart in order. He said a sutra – a prayer – for his ancestors, his family, his friends, and for himself. Then he waited for his heart to go back where it belonged instead of jumping all over inside his chest.

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai and then answer the question.

All Manjiro could think of were all the questions he wanted to ask. But he could not speak their strange tongue, and even if he could, he would probably be punished. Silence and obedience were the safest route to staying alive. 
That night, lying in his bunk, Manjiro couldn’t help trying the new words. “Buttons,” he whispered. “Pockets. Shoes. Bread.” Bread was hard to say. He tried again and again. “Captain,” he said. “Whitfield.”

“What are you doing?” Goemon said.

“Maybe if I learn some words, I can ask questions.”

Goemon groaned. “More questions!”

“If we don’t learn their language, how will we know what they intend to do to us?”

“Every time you ask questions, we get into trouble.”

“You are right,” Manjiro said, “but don’t you wonder so many things? Why are there so many barbarians on such a big ship? Why are there so many small boats? What are those big cooking pots for?”

“One of those pots is big enough to fit both of us!” Goemon said.

Manjiro shivered.

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

[Manjiro] was brought back to the present moment when a bowl of steaming rice was set before him. A real bowl. Of real rice. It had not been a dream. The wonderful, unexpected smell of rice cooking had fanned the embers of memory.

read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

The strangers leaped out of their boats and pulled them up on the small beach. By signs, they made it clear the castaways should climb aboard.

The fishermen exchanged frightened glances and whispered to one another, “What about Denzo and Jusuke?”

Gesturing, Manjiro communicated to the strangers about the two men in the cave. Denzo and Jusuke were retrieved, both of them so weak they had to be carried to the boats. Everyone found a place and the sailors shoved off. The two boats rowed away from the island toward an unknown future.

read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

Each of them was also given a metal stick, with four prongs on one end.

“Fork,” the sailor said – and showed them they should use it to eat the rice.

The fishermen recited their prayer before eating. “Itadakimasu â€“ I will humbly receive.”

Then Goemon said, “It might be poison.”

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai.

As the boats rounded the tip of the island, the fishermen gasped. An enormous bird with many huge, white wings sat upon the water. But, no, it was a ship, bristling with masts, slung with dozens of sails, and alive with movement. Many strange foreigners scurried about on deck or crawled up the ropes that were strung all over the vessel like spiderwebs.

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai and then answer the question.

The strangers leaped out of their boats and pulled them up on the small beach. By signs, they made it clear the castaways should climb aboard.

The fishermen exchanged frightened glances and whispered to one another,

“What about Denzo and Jusuke?”

Gesturing, Manjiro communicated to the strangers about the two men in the cave. Denzo and Jusuke were retrieved, both of them so weak they had to be carried to the boats. Everyone found a place and the sailors shoved off. The two boats rowed away from the island toward an unknown future.

The sun flickered on the restless waves just as it always did. The wind blew just as steadily as it always had. Yet everything had changed. They had been rescued from the island, only to be taken captive by barbarians.

Manjiro stared at the strangers when he thought they weren’t looking. Sometimes he caught them staring at him when they thought he wasn’t looking.

Read the excerpt from Heart of a Samurai and then answer the question.

Eleven eyes. When at last he dared to look up, what he noticed was their eyes. Each pair a different color: green as a stormy sea, blue as the sky, black as night, or brown as his own. One man had only one eye, and that one as gray as a cloudy day. The other eye was covered with a patch.

There did not seem to be any tails, horns, or fangs among them. There were some alarmingly hairy faces and plenty of big noses, though!

Six big noses, in fact: one long and hooked, two long and straight, one squashed and wide, one turned up at the end, and another as big and red as a radish.

Based on this excerpt, what can readers infer about the stories the fishermen were told about the barbarians?