Kano wasn't prepared to teach someone else how to read and write. Correction, he wasn't prepared to teach at all. He lacked the qualification for it, nor did he have the temperament. On top of that, his student was much, much older than he was.
As he faced his instructor's inquisitive gaze, Kano swallowed a dry mouthful of air.
"How do you combine these scripts to write this text?" Elder Bolin asked as he scooted over to Kano. With one arm, he massaged his beard as he tried to deconstruct the writing on his own. He then dropped into a squat, picked a piece of charcoal and started to copy the text.
He managed to write the first word correctly before the first catastrophe struck!
"Umm... you wrote that letter backwards," Kano pointed out.
"What?" Elder Bolin barked. "No, I didn't- Wait! Shit!"
He then hastily rubbed away the writing and tried again.
"You made the same mistake..." Kano mumbled.
