House of the Sleeping Beauties
Page 13
The face of Chikako given over to the young man made him think of her face as she had lain hands clasped. The thoughts that had been with him since he got into the cab were of that same face. Whenever he thought of Chikako, even at night, she was wrapped in the blinding light of midsummer.
“But why did I slip behind the door?” he muttered to himself as he started back down the hall. A man greeted him cordially. Who might he be? He seemed very excited, whoever he was.
“She is good. You see how good she is when she’s set off by the others.”
He remembered. It was the accompanist whom Chikako had married.
“And how are things?”
“I’ve been thinking I should come by and say hello. As a matter of fact we were divorced the end of last year. But her dancing does stand out. She is good.”
In confusion, he said to himself that he must think of something sweet. A certain passage came into his mind.
He had with him the writings of a girl who had died at fifteen. His greatest pleasure these days was in the writings of young boys and girls. Her mother seems to have made up her dead face. After the diary entry for the day of the girl’s death she wrote:
“Made up for the very first time: like a bride.”
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*1 Confucian scholar, 1680–1747.
*2 About a hundred dollars.
NOTES
For purposes of clarity the translator wishes to include a list of scientific names or descriptions of the plants and animals that are not common in the West. They are given here in the order in which they appear in the text.
“House of the Sleeping Beauties”
Aoki; Aucuba japonica.
White rhododendron (Asebi); Pieris japonica.
“Of Birds and Beasts”
Golden-crowned kinglet (Kikuitadaki, literally “chrysanthemum crown”); Regulus regulus Japonensis.
“certain varieties of titmouse….” Three varieties of titmouse are mentioned in the Japanese text, along with a wren and a chat.
Robin (Komadori); Erithacus akahige. Shiba dog; a Japanese breed resembling but smaller than the Akita.
Ryūkyū robin (Akahige); Erithacus komadori komadori.
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