Higuchi Ichiyo - Childs Play

17
Lr+ +)tr Yiq [-l-iqr,.t".i Tch] ya ') ( child's play (Takekurabe, 1895-96) Dn^11, RoLx{, .V k*^ I* h. S k: of Cp?\ Leor<e . Na,utfa-e,'Yo\e u- trets, t{e1 It's a long way round to the front of the quarterrr where the trailing branches of the willow tree bid farewell to the nighttime revellers and the bawdyhouse lights flicker in the moat, dark as the dye that blackens the smiles of the Yoshiwara beauties.2 From the third-floor roorls of the lofty houses the all but palpable music and laughter spill down into the side street.s Who knows how these great establishments prosper? The rickshaws pull up night and d"y. They call this part of town beyond the quarter "in front of Daion Temple.,, The name may sound a little saintly, but those who live in the area will tell you it's a lively place. Turn the corner at Mishima Shrine and you don,t find any mansionsrjust tenements of ten or twenty houses,where eaveshave long begun to sag and shutters only close halfway. It is not a spot for trade to flourish. Outside the tumble-down houses everyone works madly: cutting up paper into queer little pieces, slopping them with paint, spearing them on funny- looking spits. Whole families, the whole neighborhood is wrapped up in the production of these strange, bright paper skewers. They dry the painted scraps in the morning and assemble them at night. And what are these things that have everyoneso preoccupied? "You don't knowP'a merchant will reply in astonishment."Kuma.dc charmsla On Otori day, you ought to seethe big-wishers buy them up!"s Year in, year out, the minute the New Year pine bough comes down from the front gate, every selirespecting businessman takes up the same sideline, and by summer hands and feet are splattered with paint. They count on the earnings to buy new clothes for the holidays. Ifthe gods grant prosperity to mere purchasers of these charms, the men who make them figure they stand to reap a windfall. Funny thing, no one hears of any rich men dwelling in these parts. Most of the people here, in fact, have some connection with the quarter. The menfolk do odd jobs at the less digrified houses. you can hear them in the evenings jiggling their shoe-check tags before they leave for work, and you'll seethem putting on theirjackets when most men take them off. Wives rub goodJuck flints behind them to protect their men from harm. Could this v-) Child's Play :* .': t. $ be the final parting?rt's a dangerous business. Innocent bystanders get killed whenthere's a brawl in one oitr," r,orrr"r.;ilt"*'#iilil ever foil the double suicide ofa courtesan and her lover! yet ofrthe hustands go to risk their lives eachnight like school*ys io . pi"rri". Daughters, too, are invorved in the quarter: here, a serving girr in oneofthe great estabrishments; there, an "r"o.t ptyirrg back and torih betureen the teahouse and the brothel. rhey buJe'aiong witir their shop,s lantern, an advertisement for all to see. n"t _r,.i*iit p;o;";i;n;;;;s once they havegraduated fi"om-their present "or*" or tr"ining? To their, the work is something grand and gara, as if tht -".e perfo.rrring on a fine wooden stage' Then one day before they know it they havereach-ed * a of thirty, trim and tidv in their cotton coatswith-maichtdil;r;;;:* sensible ,1::u o,:" stockings. Theycarry th"i. ilii;;"ckages under their arms, and we knowwhat rhese are wirh:"r;ryiq.Stom^p, stomp, theygo with the heels of their sandals-they're in an awful-hurry__and tir" ni"isi ar"_Uridges flop down across the ditch. "w"rr r""";;'th"* at the b."d,, ,r*y ,"y, setting down their b'ndles, ,,it,s too fb;,;;;';; ;; ft"*i;;; ili }" needte- women now, apparently. customs here are indeed a littre different. you won,t find many women who tie their sashe! neatly behind theJ waists. It,s one thing to see a woman of a certain agewho favors gaudy p"ttr*r, o"-;;;;;rr*moder- ately wide. It's quite another to see txeseia'reraced girls of fifteen or sixteen, all decked out ln flashy crother ;;;l;;ng on bradder cherries, which everybody knows are used as contraceptives. But that,s what kind of neighborhood it is. l IdJ:p -t o y.rl-f;ay went by the name of some heroine in Thc Tab of Genji "t orr" Jr,r,. irrm-rate houses along the ditch today runs offwith ,it"g. Th"y;;;;;_a bar, though neither of them knows the rirst thine abouirunnrtrg"i"rir;. Theysoon go-u.;k". i're beauty beginsto miss he,?o.mer callinglner;;;; *, gone with the chopped-up chicken bonesleft from last nig;hi's il;;;;"*"s. unlike the chicken, how_ ever,our charmer can stiu return to her old nest.' people around here, for some reason' find this kind ofwoman more alluring th*;;;;;ary one. In sucha world' how are the ch'dren to "r"up" being influenced? Takethe autumn festival.s Mother Menge would be scandarized at the speedwith which they learn to mimic aU ltre A,,,o,r, "lo_rr* why, there,s not a one of them who can't do Rohachi "ta r,oi.lo-They hear their performances f:tr"^d, and that niglt the smart alecks repeat their rounds. It starts at the age of seven or eisht. this audacity, and blittre time they're fifteen! Towels from the evening f,"tl a..,gt" ft ;;; Jio.rH""r, ""d ih" l;t"rt ,orrg, ir, , nasal twang of disrespect, dribbl", r.om th" corner of their lips. At school, any moment' a proper lusic.c-las-s is apt to lapse into ttr".iytrrr", of the quarter' Athletic meetsrins-wi.th. the song rrs"iti,r--h;"";i, tir r"rroot cheer? one syrnpathizes wiih their teache?s, -t o toit at the lkueisha, not far

description

A short story by Ichiyo.

Transcript of Higuchi Ichiyo - Childs Play

Lr+ +) t r Y i q[-l-iqr,.t".i Tch] ya') (

child's play(Takekurabe, 1895-96)

Dn^11, RoLx{, .V

k*^ I* h. S k:

of Cp?\ Leor<e . Na,u tfa-e,'Yo\eu- t r e t s , t{e1

It's a long way round to the front of the quarterrr where the trailing branchesof the willow tree bid farewell to the nighttime revellers and the bawdyhouselights flicker in the moat, dark as the dye that blackens the smiles of theYoshiwara beauties.2 From the third-floor roorls of the lofty houses the allbut palpable music and laughter spill down into the side street.s Who knowshow these great establishments prosper? The rickshaws pull up night andd"y.

They call this part of town beyond the quarter "in front of Daion Temple.,,The name may sound a little saintly, but those who live in the area will tellyou it's a lively place. Turn the corner at Mishima Shrine and you don,t findany mansionsrjust tenements of ten or twenty houses, where eaves have longbegun to sag and shutters only close halfway. It is not a spot for trade toflourish.

Outside the tumble-down houses everyone works madly: cutting up paperinto queer little pieces, slopping them with paint, spearing them on funny-looking spits. Whole families, the whole neighborhood is wrapped up in theproduction of these strange, bright paper skewers. They dry the paintedscraps in the morning and assemble them at night. And what are thesethings that have everyone so preoccupied? "You don't knowP'a merchant willreply in astonishment."Kuma.dc charmsla On Otori day, you ought to see thebig-wishers buy them up!"s

Year in, year out, the minute the New Year pine bough comes down fromthe front gate, every selirespecting businessman takes up the same sideline,and by summer hands and feet are splattered with paint. They count on theearnings to buy new clothes for the holidays. Ifthe gods grant prosperity tomere purchasers of these charms, the men who make them figure they standto reap a windfall. Funny thing, no one hears of any rich men dwelling inthese parts.

Most of the people here, in fact, have some connection with the quarter.The menfolk do odd jobs at the less digrified houses. you can hear them inthe evenings jiggling their shoe-check tags before they leave for work, andyou'll see them putting on theirjackets when most men take them off. Wivesrub goodJuck flints behind them to protect their men from harm. Could this

v-)Child's Play

:*.':t .

$

be the final parting?rt's a dangerous business. Innocent bystanders get killedwhen there's a brawl in one oitr," r,orrr"r.;ilt"*'#iilil ever foil thedouble suicide ofa courtesan and her lover! yet ofrthe hustands go to risktheir lives each night like school*ys io . pi"rri".Daughters, too, are invorved in the quarter: here, a serving girr in one ofthegreat estabrishments; there, an "r"o.t ptyirrg back and torih betureen theteahouse and the brothel. rhey buJe'aiong witir their shop,s lantern, anadvertisement for all to see. n"t _r,.i*iit p;o;";i;n;;;;s once theyhave graduated fi"om-their present "or*" or tr"ining? To their, the work issomething grand and gara, as if tht -".e perfo.rrring on a fine woodenstage' Then one day before they know it they have reach-ed * a of thirty,trim and tidv in their cotton coats with-maichtdil;r;;;:* sensible

,1::u o,:" stockings. They carry th"i. ilii;;"ckages under their arms, and weknowwhat rhese are wirh:"r;ryiq.Stom^p, stomp, theygo with the heels oftheir sandals-they're in an awful-hurry__and tir" ni"isi ar"_Uridges flopdown across the ditch. "w"rr r""";;'th"* at the b."d,, ,r*y ,"y, settingdown their b'ndles, ,,it,s too fb;,;;;';; ;; ft"*i;;; ili }" needte-women now, apparently.

customs here are indeed a littre different. you won,t find many womenwho tie their sashe! neatly behind theJ waists. It,s one thing to see awoman of a certain age who favors gaudy p"ttr*r, o"-;;;;;rr*moder-ately wide. It's quite another to see txeseia'reraced girls of fifteen or sixteen,all decked out ln flashy crother ;;;l;;ng on bradder cherries, whicheverybody knows are used as contraceptives. But that,s what kind ofneighborhood it is. l IdJ:p -t o y.rl-f;ay went by the name of someheroine in Thc Tab of Genji "t orr" Jr,r,. irrm-rate houses along the ditchtoday runs offwith ,it"g. Th"y;;;;;_a bar, though neither of themknows the rirst thine abouirunnrtrg"i"rir;. They soon go-u.;k". i're beautybegins to miss he,?o.mer callinglner;;;; *, gone with the chopped-upchicken bones left from last nig;hi's il;;;;"*"s. unlike the chicken, how_ever, our charmer can stiu return to her old nest.' people around here, forsome reason' find this kind ofwoman more alluring th*;;;;;ary one.In such a world' how are the ch'dren to "r"up" being influenced? Take theautumn festival.s Mother Menge would be scandarized at the speed withwhich they learn to mimic aU ltre A,,,o,r, "lo_rr* why, there,s not a one ofthem who can't do Rohachi "ta r,oi.lo-They hear their performances

f:tr"^d, and that niglt the smart alecks repeat their rounds. It starts at theage of seven or eisht. this audacity, and blittre time they're fifteen! Towelsfrom the evening f,"tl a..,gt" ft ;;; Jio.rH""r, ""d ih" l;t"rt ,orrg, ir, ,nasal twang of disrespect, dribbl", r.om th" corner of their lips. At school,any moment' a proper

lusic.c-las-s is apt to lapse into ttr".iytrrr", of thequarter' Athletic meetsrins-wi.th. the song rrs"iti,r--h;"";i, tir r"rrootcheer? one syrnpathizes wiih their teache?s, -t o toit at the lkueisha, not far

2sa Child,s play

from here' It may be a crowded littre schoolhouse-a private school,acfuallyr!-but the sfudents number close to a thousand, and the teacherswho are popular there soon become known. In these p..ts, ite,r"r|'*oraschool is svnon)znous with the lkueisha. "'" "'-l

Listen to them walking home from school: "your father sure keeps an e'eo1 the

teahouse Uy t19 !1dget" they shout at the fireman,s bov. ,;;i;wisdom of the street. children know about th. q";;;;. TG,"ilirtt" "r*garden walls, imitating fireme1. "Hev! you broke the rpit...'o'ti" r.r".,okeep the thieves awa.v!;A-two-Ui, ,ry*,.rr, ,J'U.gi.r, his prosecution: ..your

old man's a 'horse,' lsn't he? Isn't he?' rt. tiooa rushes to the defendant,s,race,

r-he poor bov-he'd sooner die than admit his father collected birls for abrothel. And then there are the favorite sons of the big shots ,iii. q""r,.r,who.qow. up in l@ging at some remove, fi"ee to feign a noble birth. The'tPo.*Jh. latest prep-school cap, they have a look of leisure, and th*;;;their European clothes with st_vle arrj panache-al tt. ,"*", U;, "_*r"g awatch the others currv favor...ayoung master, -r,oung masterr,, thev call them,when "spoiled brat''ivould do.Among the man-v students at the lkueisha rvas Nobuvuki of R''ge Tem-ple.t2 In time, his thick, black haA rvould tr shorn, and he would don thedark robes of a priest. It mav wet have been his own choice, and then again

rrh:pr he had resigned himself to fate. His father was a cle.ic, ..,J"r."a,like his father Nobu was a scholar. By nature he was " q,ri.t;;t;;

classmates considered him a wet blanket and thev liked io ,."r"' t i.rr."Here-this is vour line of work," thev would laugh, siringing up a J""a "",."How about off.ri"g the last rites?'ill that was in the past, horvever; no onemade fun of him norv, not elcn by mistake. He *,as fifteen,3 and of averageheigfrt, his dark hair was closely cropped in schoolbov fashion, "ra -r,"t ,o-.-thing about him was different from the others. Arthough he had theordinarv-sounding name of Fujimoto Noburn:ki, already i'fri, ,.*..Lr.

suggestions of the cloth.

The Festival of senzoku shrine was set for the twentieth ofAugust, and not ablock would there be without a float of its own jostling for lory. Orrer theditch and up the side of the embankment tt "y cfr"rgeiail tte yo.*g -"",pushing, pulling, bent on taking the quarter. irr" n.".t beats faster at themere thought of it. And keep an eye, -id yot.r, on theyoung ones_once theyget wind of what the older bop are up to. Matchi.rg i.i,,,oio, ro, trr" -rrorugang Te

only the beginning. The saucy things they"dream up *iU giuu yo,,goose bumps.The back-street gang' as they preferred to can themselves, had ch.kichi for

Cbild's Plav

their leader. He was the fire chiefs son-sixteen and full of it. He hadn'twalked without his chest puflld out since the day he started policing the fall

festival with his father: baton swinging, belt low around the hips' sneeringwhenever he answered. The firemen's wives all g.iped among themselvesr "If

he weren't the chiefs boy, he'd ner€r get away with it."Selfish Chdkichi saw to it that he ahvals got his way. He stretched his

side-street influence wider than it really went, until in Sh6ta, the leader of themain-street gang, Chokichi knew that he had met his match. Though Shotawas three vears younger, he was the son ofTanaka, the pawnbroker; hisfamilv had money, he was a likable boy. Ch6kichi went to the Ikueisha;

Sh6ta, to a fancy public school.r{ The school song thev sang mav have beenthe same, but Shdta alwars made a face, as if Chdkichi and his friends at theIkueisha were poor relations.

With his band of admirers--er€n some grown-ups numbered amongthem-for the last two 1€ars Sh6ta's plans for the festival had flowered moreluxtrriantly than the efforts of Chdkichi's gang. There had been no contest'and, if he lost again this vear, all his threats-"Who do vou think vou'redealing with? Chokichi from the back streets, that's who!"-would no longergarner even enough members for a srvimming team at the Benten Ditch. If itwere a matter of strength, he knerv he rvould prevail, but everyone was takenin bv Shdta's quiet wars and his good grades. It was mortifving-some of hisown gang had gone oi'er on the sly to Shdta's side. Tarokiihi and Sangoro, forinstance,

Now the festiral was onlv fwo dars arvav. It looked more and more as ifChokichi would lose again. He was desperate. If he could just see that Sh6tagot a little.egg on his face, it wouldn't matter if he himself lost an eve or alimb. He wouldn't have to suffer defeat anv more if he could recruit the likesof Ushi, the son of the rickshawman, and Ben, whose famih made hahribbons, and Yasuke, the tovmakeis bov. Ah, and better still: if he could getNobu on his side-there rvas a fellow who'd have a good idea or two.

Near dusk on the erening of the eighteenth, hoping for a chance to per-suade Nobu, Chokichi made his cockvway through the bamboo thicket of thetemple. Swatting the mosquitoes that swarmed about his face, he stole up toNobu's room.

"Nobu? You there? I knorv people sav I'm a rouglrneck, and maybe I am.But it's no wonder, with the wav they goad me. Listen, Nobu, I've had enoughof them---ever since last year when that jerk from Shdta's gang picked a fightwith my little brother and thgv all came rutrning and jumped on him andthrew him around. I mean, what do you think of something like that? Beatingup a little kid and breaking his festival lantern! And then that Donkey fiomthe dumpling shop, who's so big and awkward he thinks he can go aroundacting like a grown-up! He comes and starts insulting me to my brotherbehind my back. You know what he said?'Think Chdkichi's so smart, huh?

258 Child's Plav

And your fathey's fire 3hief

W9ll, lour big brother isn,t head of awthing.He's the tail end-a nig's tail end!'Tirat's *h-"t h. r"iaiari,r* u-"iti, "".the parade, pulling our float. when I heard "tout it later, though, I was readyto get even! But my father found out, and I'm theone who got ir trouble. andyou remember the year before that, don't vou? I went overio the paper shop,where a bunch of kids from the main street were putting on their slapstick.rsYou know what snide thing they said to me?'Doesn't the back street hare itsown games? And all th: yhile theyr.e treating_Sh6ta like king. I aon,ifo"g.tthese things, Nobu . . . I don't care how -.rih _orr.u he has. Who is he,a*rvav' but the son of a loan shark? I'd be doing the world a fa'or to.get rid

3,rycn " "::"p. This year, no matter how tou.qhi hr;. ;;;Jil.i. ,""j, ,n",Shdta eats his words. That's wh,v, wobu--comi on_for a friend,-r,ou,re gor tohelp. I know vou don't rike.this kind of rough ,*n u"iti;i-ffiiJ* n""o,back! Don't -vou want to help me smash thit snoon,shota witlihis sruck-upschool songs? you know rvhen they calr me a srupid private-schoolbr, it goesfor -vou too. So come on. Do me thi, on. fa'or and tretp us out. Carn, o.,. ofthe lanterns around at the festiral. Listen, I'm eating m-v heart out, this has!91

bgthering me so much. If we lose ihis time, it,ll be the end of me.,,Chdkichi's broad shoulders rembled with anger."But I'm not r€rv stron.q.""I don't care rvhether tlu're strong or not.,,"I don't think I could carn, one of-the lanterns.,,"You don't have tol,'"You'll lose eren with me_r,ou don't care?-,"If we lose, we lose. Look, -r'ou don't hare to do an'thing. Just so _r,ou're onour side. All we hare to do is show -r,ou off. It,ll attract "ir"* ,rria ;; "*morale' I know I'm not t=r.t' rtrr"tt, but ''ou are. so if the' start usine bigwords and making fun of us, -r,ou can "rrr*". ,igt a i""k i" Cni""*.'i ".,better alreadv. you're worth the whole lot of themr rhanks, Nobu.,, It rvasn,toften vou heard Chdkichi speak so softlv.The one the son of a workman, rvith his bor,.s belt and his smart strarvsandals; the other like a priest

_in his somber.lacket and his purpf" U*a_

lferwel the opposite sides of a coin. Mo.e"often than not, the trvo bo'sdisagreed. Yet it rvas t*...,11,

fgbuk own parents had a soft ,p";;;chokichi. whv, the venerable Head priest and his wife had heard chokichi,sfirst cries as a babe outside the temple gate. And, after alr, thev did both.go to,n"-TT" schoot. rf people made fun oitr," rr.Jrr," i" ii,ii";ii-rir.ii*"0on Nobu too' It was a shame that chokichi wasn't better riked, but he neverhad been what.vou'd call-appealing-unlike Shdta, who attracted everyone,::": jt older boys, for his-allies.-Nobu wasn,t ;;J;il'p""j:;iii.. ,,chdkichi lost, the blame wourd rest squarery on Shdta. when chokichi cameto him like this, out of a sense of decinry wobu could hardly refuse."AIl right. I'm on your side. But you'd better keep the fighiing down . . . If

Child" fhy 259

they start things, we won't have anv choice. And if that happens, I'll wrapShota around my little finger." Nobu's reticence had alreadv been forgotten.He opened his desk drarver and shorved Chokichi the prized Kokaji dagger hisfather had brought him from Kr'6to.

"Sav! That'll reallv cutl" Chokichi admired.Look out---careful how l'ou war€ that thing.

Undone, her hair rvould reach her feet. She wore it swept up and pulled into aheavl'-looking roll in the "red bear" sn'ler6--a frightening name for a maiden'shairdo, but the latest fashion even among girls of good family. Her skin wasfair and her nose was nicelv shaped. Her mouth, a little large perhaps, wasfirm and not at all unattractire. If.r'ou took her features one b1'one, it is true,thev rvere not the classic components of ideal beauh'. And vet she was awinsome girl, exuberant, soft-spoken. Her eves radiated rvarmth rvhenevershe looked at -l'ou."I'd like to see her three -r'ears from norv!" _voung men leaving the quarterrvould remark rvhen thev noticed her returning from the morning bath, hertorvel in hand and her neck a lovelv rvhite above her orange kimono of boldlvpatterned butter{lies and birds, her sn'lish sash wrapped high at the waistr?and her lacquered slippers more thicklv soled than what one usuallv sarv,even around here.

Her name rvas itlidori and she nas from the Daikokuva. She was born inKishrl,t8 thouglr, and her s'ords had the slightest southern lilt. It rvas charm-ing. There were ferv rvho did not enjov her generous, open nature,

For a child, Midori had a handsome pocketbook, thanks to her sister'ssuccess in the quarter. The great ladr"s satellitesre knerv how to purchasegood rvill: "Here Midori, go bu1'_v'ourself a doll," the manager would sav. "It

isn't much, honey," one of the attendant girls would offbr, "but it'll buv vou aball, annvav." No one took these gifis renr seriously, and the income Midoriaccepted as her due. It rvas nothing for her to turn round and treat twentvclassmates to matching rubber balls. She had been known to delight her{i"iend the woman at the paper store bv buving up every last shopworn trifle.The ertraragance dav after dav rvas certainlv beyond the child's age or sta-tion. What would become of her? Her parents looked the other wav, never aword of caution.

And wasn't it odd, how the owner of her sistey's house would spoil her so?She was hardly his adopted child, or even a relation. Yet ever since he hadcome to their home in the provinces to appraise her older sister, Midori andher parents had found themselves here at the Daikokuya. They had packed uptheir belongings, along with her sister, to seek their fortunes in the city.

260 Child's play

what laybehind it all would be difiicult to sav, but todav her parents wereP^"T-l:O*r

for thegentleman. On the side, her mother took in serving fi"omthe women of the district; her father kept the books at " tt i.a-."i. iour".They saw to it that Midori went to school and that she learned ;;;.gand her music. The rest of the time she was on her own: Iollin! ""o*a rr."sistey's rooms for half the day, playing in the streets the other half. Her headwas fi:ll of the sounds of samisen and*drum, of.the twilight ".a, "rrJpurpt".of the quarter.2. Nerv to- the ciry, Midori had uristiea ii." ,rr" "rrri, grr,made f'n of her, calling ler I gountr,v girl for wearing a lavender collar withher lined kimono. She had cried for tt.!" a"* th.rr. tiot rro*, tio,rElt *".Midori who would tease when someone seemed uncouth-,,what kind ofdress is that!"-and no one had quite the nimble wit to return her rebukes.

The festival was to be held on the hventieth, and this vear trr.y ,,rorriJn"rr"to outdo themserves. Midori's herp was needed. "All right- ir=^.". pr*something. we'lr take a vote. I'll pay for eventhing," ,h. i..porrd"d Jih r,."usual generositv. ,,Don't worry atout the cost.',

The children were quicker than adults to seize an opportunih,. The benefi-cent ruler seldom comes a second time."Let's do a shorv. We c1n borrow a shop where evervone can rvatch us.,,...

"Ne-that's srupid! Let's build a little rhrirr. ,o carn,around. A good onelike they have at Kabata's. Even if it's hea1v, it won,t matter, oncer:ve.qet itgoing to a nice beat." - !

"Yatchoir Yatchoi!" danced a.vouth alread'in the mood, his torvel twisredinto a festive headband."what about usr'"you think Midori's going to have anv fun just rvatching

while -vou're all roughhousingf' *Come oi, t,tido.i, haue ihem io somethingelse." The girls, it seemed, wourd prefer to forgo the cerebrations for anafternoon of vaudeville.sh6ta's handsome e'es rit up. "whv don't we do a magic lantern shorv? Ihave a few pictures at my house. Midori, vou ""r, Urry th" rest. We can use thepaper shop. I'lr run the lantern, and sangoro from the back street can be thenaralor. What do you say, Midori? Wouldn,t that be good?,

, 't.likr it! Ifsangoro does the talking, no one wilr 6e able to keep fromlaughing. Too bad we can't put a pictuie of him in the show.,,Everyhing was decided. Sh6ta dished around to get things read-,,.By the next day, word oftheir plans had reached ihe b""i rt.e.t.

The drums, the samisenr Even in a place never wanting for music, the festiral

::,^3_" t:*r, rime ofyear. what could rival it but Otori da,v?Just watch thesnnnes try to supass one another in their celebrations.

The back-street and the main-street gangs each had their own matching

Cbild's Plav 26L

outfits. M6ka cotton emblazoned with their street names. "But they're not asnice as last year's," some grumbled.?l Sleeves were tied up with flaxen cordsstained vellow from a jasmine d1'e. The wider the bright ribbons, ei€ryoneagreed, the better. Children under fifteen or so weren't satisfied until theyhad accumulated all the trinkets they could carry-Daruma dolls, owls, dogpof papier-mdch6. Some had eight or nine, even eleven, dan$ing from theiryellow armbands. It rvas a sight to see them, bells of all sizes jin$ing fromtheir backs as thev ran along gamely in their stockinged feet.

Sh6ta stood apart from the crorvd. Todav he looked unusually dapper. Hisred-striped jacket and his dark-blue vest contrasted handsomelv with hisbol"ish complerion. He wore a pale blue sash wrapped tightlv round thewaist. A second look revealed it to be the most erpensive crepe. The emblemson his collar were exceptional enough to draw attention by themselves. In hisheadband he had tucked a paper flower. Thoug;h his well-heeled feet beattime to the rhrthm of the drums, Shdta did not join the ranks of anv of thestreet musicians.

Festival eve had passed rvirhout incident. Now at dusk on this once-in-a-vear holiday, twelre of the main-sreet gang were gathered at the paper shop.Onlv lvlidori, a long time with her evening toilette, had yet to appear. Sh6tawas getting impatient.

"What's taking her so lonf' He paced in and out the front door. "Sangor6,

go and get her. You'r€ nerer been to the Daikokua, though, have vou? Callher from the garden, and she'll hear you. Hurrv up."

"All right. I'll leare mv lantern here. Sh6ta, keep an e\€ on it; someonemight take the candle."

"Don't be such a cheapskatel Stop darvdling.""I'm off."33 The bol'didn't seem to mind being scolded bv his juniors.'"Ihere goes the god of lighmitrg,"" someone said, and the girls all burst

out laughing at the wav he ran. He rvas short and bee$, and, with no neck tospeak of his bulging head suggested one of those wooden mallets. Protrudingforehead, pug nose, big front teeth-no wonder he was called Bucktooth-Sangord. He was decidedly dark-skinned, but what one noticed even morewas the expression on his face, dimpled and affable and ready for the clown'srole. His eyebrows were so oddll'placed as to suggest the final outcome of agame of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkev. He was an amusing child, without amean srreak in him.

To those who did not know how poor he was, Sangor6 shrugged offhiseveryday cotton clothes. "Couldn't get a matching kimono made in time."

He was the eldest of six children. Their father contrived to feed them all byclinging to the handles of a rickshaw. True, he worked the prosperous streetin {iont of the quarter, lined with the teahouses. But somehow the wheels ofhis cart never turned a real profit. Fast as they spun, they only kept the familygoing hand-to-mouth.2{

"Now that you're thirteen, I'm cotrntin$ on you to help out, boy," Sangor6's

262 Child's PIaY

father had told him the year before last. He went to work at the printing shopover in Namiki but, in his lackadaisical way, in ten days he had tired of thejob. Seldom did he last more than a month anlnvhere. From November to

January he worked part-time making shuttlecocks for the New Year's games.In summer he helped the iceman near the hospital. Thanks to the comicalway he had of soliciting customers, the two of them did a brisk business. Aborn hawker, the iceman said.

Ever since he had pulled a float last year at the Yoshiwara carnival, hisdisapproving friends had dubbed him "Mannenchd." He was as bad' theysaid, as the jesters from that lowliest of slums.2s But evervone knew Sangor6

was a buffoon. No one disliked him; this was his one advantage.The pawnshop Sh6ta's people ran rvas a lifeline for Sangoro and his family,

whose gratitude toward the Tanakas was no small thing. True, the dailyinterest rates thev were obliged to pay bordered on the'exorbitant; yet with-

out the loans thev could scarcely have kept going. How, then, could theybegrudge the moneylender his due?

"Sangor6," Shota and the main-street gang were forever urging him'"come over to our street and plav." And how could he refuse Sh6ta, to whose

family they were all indebted? On the other hand, he was born and raised in

the back streets, he lived on land belonging to Ry0ge Temple, Ch6kichi'sfather owned their house. It wouldn't do to turn his back openly on Chokichi.When in the end he quietly went over to the main street, the accusing looks

were hard for him to bear.Shdta sat down in the paper shop, tired ofwaiting for Midori' andbegan to

sing the opening lines of "Secret Love.""Listen to that!" laugled the shopkeeper's wife. "Singing love song

already-we'll have to keep an eye on this one."Shdta's ears turned red. "Let's go!" he called to the others in a loud voice he

hoped would cover his embarrassment. But as he ran out of the shop, he

bumped into his grandmother."Shdta-whv haven't you come home for dinner? I've been calling and

calling, but you're so busy playrng you don't even listen. You can all play

again after dinner. Thanks," she added in a curt word of parting to the

shopkeeper's wife.Sh6ta had no choice but to follow her home.Whenever he left, how lonelv it seemed. Only one less person than before'

and yet even the grown-ups missed Shdta. It was not that he was boisterousor always crackingjokes, like Sangor6. Such friendliness, though-you don't

usually find it in a rich boy."But did you see the nasty wav his gfandmother has?'housewives gossiped

on the street corner. "She's sixtv-four if she's a day. And her hair done up like

a young floozy! At least she doesn't wear all that powder any more.""You ought to hear her purr and coax to get her loans back. Nothing stops

- { l.i;

Child's l'lay 263

her. You watch-the borrower could die, and she'd be at the firneral to

collect. She's the kind who'll try to take her money with her when she goes.""We can't even hold our heads up to her-that's the power of money.""Don't you wish you had a little of itP'"They say she even lends to the big houses in the quarter."

What they wouldn't give to know how much the old crone had.

"How sad it is for one who waits alone by the midnight hearth." The love

songs do have a way of putting things.26The breeze felt cool on that summer evening. In the bath Midori had

washed the heat of the day awav, and now she stood before her fr:ll-length

mirror getting readv. Her mother took charge of repairing the girl's hairdo. A

beaulv, even if she did say so, the woman thought, inspecting her daughterfrom every angle. "You still don't have enoug! powder on vour neck." Thev

had chosen for the occasion a silk kimono in a cool, pale blue. Her strarv-

colored sash was flecked with gold threads and custom-made to fit her tinvwaist. It would be some time, though, before they could begin deciding on

the proper sandals."Isn't she readv vet?' Sangoro rvas losing his patience. He had circled the

garden wall seven times. Horv much longer could he go on lawning? The

mosquitoes around here were a local speciallv; no sooner had he brushed

them away than they would buzz back again. A bite on the neck, a bite on

the forehead. Just as he had had about all he could take, Midori finallv

appeared.t'Let's gor" she said,He pulled her sleeve without answering her and began to run.Midori was soon out ofbreath. She could feel her heart pounding. "Well, if

you're in such a hurry about it, go on ahead."Sangord arrived at the paper shopjust before her. Sh6ta, it appeared' had

gone home for dirurer."This isn't going to be an1' fi:n. We can't start the lantern show without

Sh6ta," Midori complained, turning to the shopkeeper's wife. "Any checkers?

Cut-outs? We'll need somcthing to keep us busv till he comes.""Here we are." The $rls immediately began to cut out the paper dolls the

shop lady handed them.The boys, with Sangord in the lead, replayed entertainments from the

Yoshiwara carnival. Their harmony was odd, but they knew the melodies:"Come see the thrivihg quarter- tThe lights, the lanterns under every eave' tt'The .gaiety of all five streets!"27

2U Child's Play

In fact, they remembered perfectly the songs and dances of a vear, two yearsbefore. They didn't miss a beat; they had every gesture down. A crowdgathered at the gate outside to watch the ten of them, carried away by theirown side show.

"Is Sangord there?'called a voice from among the onlookers. "Come here aminute, quick." It was Bunji, the hairdressey's boy.

"Just a second," yelled Sangord without a care.No sooner did he run through the doorway than someone punched him in

the face. "You double-crosserl This'll teach youl Who do,vou think I am?Chokichi! I'll make you sorry you ever made fun of us!"

Sangor6 was dumbfounded. He tried to escape, but they grabbed him bythe collar.

"Kill himt Shdta tool Don't let the chicken get away. And Donkey from thedumpling sho5don't think you're going to get off so eaw!"

The uproar swelled like the rising tide. Paper lanterns came crashing downfrom the eaves.

"Mind the lamp. You mustn't fight in li"ont of the shop." The rvoman's vellwas loud enough, but who was listeningf,

There were fourteen or fifteen of them in the attack, streamers round theheads, their oversize lanterns swinging. Blows were struck in all directions,things trampled trnderfoot. The outrage of itl But Shota-the one they wereafter-was nowhere to be found.

"Hide him, will -vou? Where is he? Ifyou don't tell us, vou'll answer for it."Thev closed in around Sangor6, hitting and kicking, until lvlidori couldn'tstand to watch. She pushed her rvav to the front, past the restraining hand ofthe shopkeepeis wife.

"What are you taking it out on him for? If vou want to fight with Shdta,fight with Shota. He didn't run awav and he's not hiding. He's not here, that'sall. This is our place. Why do you have to go sticking your noses in? You'resuch a creep, Chokichi. Why don't you leave Sangord alone? There-you'veknocked him down. Now stop itt lfyou want to hit someone, hit me. Don't tryto hold me back," she turned to the shopkeeper's wife, shouting abuse atChokichi all the while she tried to free herself.

"Yeah? You're nothing but a whore, just like vour sister," Chokichi shotback. He stepped around from behind the others and grabbed his muddysandal. "This is all you're worth." He threw it at Midori.

With a splatter, it struck her square on the forehead. She turned white, butthe shopkeepeis wife held her back. "Don't. You'll get hurt."

"Sewes you right," Chokichi $oated. "By the way, guess who's joined our

side. Nobu from Rvrige Templel So try and get even any time you want." Heleft Sangord ly-g ir the shop's front door. "You fools! Wrla'klingst CowardslWe'll be waiting for you. Be carefi.rl when you walk through the back streetsafier dark."

Just then he heard the sound of a policeman's boots. Someone had

Child's Play 26b

squealed on them. "Come oni" As fast as they could, Ushimatsu, Bunji, andthe ten or so others all scattered in different directions, crouching in hidingplaces among the allelnvays until the coast was clear.

"Damn you, Chdkichi! You bastard. Damn you! Damn you, Bunji! Damnyou, Ushimatsul Why don't you just kill me? Come on. Just try and kill me.I'm Sangord-and martbe it's not so easy! Even if you did kill me, even if Iturned into a ghost, I'd haunt you for the rest ofyour lives. Remember that,Chokichi!" Sangord began to sob. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks. He lookedas if he must be aching. His sleeves were torn. His back and hips werecorered with dirt.

The force ofhis anger, bevond his power to control, kept the others back.But the shopkeeper's wife rushed over to him. "It's all right," she soothed himwith a pat and helped him to his feet. She brushed the gravel from hisclothes. "Don't be upset. There were just too many of them, the rest of usweren't much help, not even a glown-up could do anything. It wasn't a fairmatch--don't be ashamed. It's lucky vou weren't hurt, but.rou won't be safegoing home alone. I'll feel much better if the policeman takes you; it's a goodthing he's come. Oflicer, let me tell vou what happened."

As she finished her account, the policeman reached for the bo/s hand in hisprofessional wav. "I'll take vou home."

"No. I'm all right. I can go bv mvselfl" He seemed to cringe with shame."There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll just take _vou as far as.r'our house. Don't

worry." He smiled at Sangoro and patted him on the head.But Sangoro shrank back farther. "Ifml father hears about the fight, I'll

get in terrible trouble. Chdkichi's father owns our house.""How about if I take vou as far as the front gate? I won't sav aw'thing to get

vou into trouble." He managed to coax the downcast Sangord and led him offtoward home.

The others felt relieved. But as they watched the two depart, at the cornerIeading to the back streets, for some reason Sangorb shook loose and brokeinto a run.

It was as rare as snow falling from a summer sky, but todav Midori couldn'tbrook the thought of school. She wouldn't eat her breakfast. Should theyorder something special? It couldn't be a cold, she had no fever. Too muchexcitement vesterday, probably. "Why don't you stay home?' her mothersuggested. "I'll go to the shrine for you."

Midori wouldn't hear of it. It was h.er vow to Tard-sama for her sisteCssuccess.2E "I'll just go and come right back. Give me some money for theoffering."

Off she went to the shrine among the paddy fields. She rang the bell'

$

266 Child's play

shaped like the g;eat mouth of a crocodile, and clasped her hands in suppli_cation. And what were-they for, these prayers of hers? she walked throughthe fields with her head downcast, to and from the shrine.

Shdta saw her from a distance and called out as he ran toward her. Hetugged at her sleore, "Midori, I'm sorry about last niglt.,'

'oThat's all right. It wasn't vour fault.""But thevwere after me. IfGrandmother hadn,t come, I wouldn,t have left.

And then thev wouldn't have beaten up sangord the wav thev did. I went tosee him this morning. He was crving and fr.rious. I got angryjust listening rohim talk about it. Chdkichi threw his sandal at you, didn't he? Damn him,anyarav! There are limits to what even he can get away with. But I hopevou're not mad at me, Midori. I didn't run awav from him. I gulped my fooddown as fast as I could and wasjust on my -ay'back when crindhother saidI had to watch the house while she went for her bath. That's when all thecommotion must have started. Honest, I didn,t know anything about it.', Heapologized as if the crime were his, not Chokichi's. ,,Does it hurt?, Shotasrramined Midori's forehead.

"Well, it's nothing that will leave a scar," Midori laughed. ,,But listen,Sh6ta, you mustn't tell anvone. If Mother ever found out, I'd get a realscolding. M.r'parents never lav a hand on me. If thev hear a dolt like chokichismeared mud on mv face with his filth1, sandal-.', She looked awav.

"Please forgve -". It" all mv fault. Piease. Come on, cheer up. I won,t beable to stand it if vou're mad at me." Before thev knerv it, thev had reachedthe back gate of Shota's house. "Do you want to come in? No one's home.Grandmother's gone to collect the interest. It's lonelv bv mvself. corne on, I'llshow vou those prints I told -r'ou about the other dav. There are al] kinds ofthem." Shdta wouldn't let go of her sleeve until Midori had agreed.

Inside the dilapidated gate was a small garden. Dwarf trees were lined upin their pots and from the eaves hung a tinv trellis of fern with a windbeli,Shdta's memento from the holiday market.2e But who would have picked itfor the wealthiest house in the neighborhood? Here alone by themselves livedan old woman and a boy. No one had ever broken in: there were cold, metallocks everywhere, and the neig;hboring tenements kept an we on the place.

Shdta went in first and found a spot where the breeze blew. ,.Over here,,'he called to Midori, handing her a fan. For a thifieen-year-old, he was rathertoo sophisticated. He took out one color print afier another. They had been inhis familv for generations, and he smiled when Midori admired them. "shallI showyou a battledore? It was my motherrs. She got it when she worked fora rich man. Isn't it funny? It's so big. And look how different people,s faceswere in those days. I wish she were still alive . . . My mother died when I wasthree, and my father went back to his own family's place in the country. SoI've been here with Grandmother ever since. you're lucky, Midori."

"Look out. You'll get the pictures wet. Boys aren't supposed to cry.',

Child's Plav

,.I guess I'm a sissv. sometimes I get to thinking about thin$. . . It's all

rigfrt now, but in the winter, when the moon is out and I have to make the

.oLa" in Tamachi collecting the interest, sometimes when I walk along the

ditch, I sit down on the bank and crv. Not from the cold. I don't know

why . . . I just think about things. I've been doing the collecting ever since-vear

beti.e lasi. Grandmotherrs getting old. tt's not safe for her at night. And her

eyes aren't so good anv more. She can't see what she's doing when she has to

put t., seal oi the reieipts. We've had a lot ofdifferent men working for us.

But Grandmother sarn the-v a[ take us for fools-when it's only an old lady

and a bov they have to answer to. She's just waiti:r$ for the day when I'm a

little older and we can oPen the pawnshop again' We'll put the family sign

out in fi'ont, even if things aren't as good as they used to be' Oh, I know

people sav Grandmotherrs stingr. But she's only carefirl about things for mv

r"f.. ft really bothers me, to hear them talk that wav' I guess the people I

collect from over in Tdrishinmachi are pretlv bad off, all right. I suppose it's

no wonder they sav things about her. when I think about it, though' some-

times I just can't hetp it iit cry. I guess I am a weakling' This morning when I

went tJ see Sangor6, he rvas sore all over, but he still went right on working

so his father wouldn't find out about last night. I didn't know what to

say .Aboy looksPre ts ' s i l l y r vhenhec r i es ,doesn ' t he?Tha t ' swhv theuact< street makes firn of sangor6." He seemed ashamed at his own un-

manliness.Occasionallv their eres would meet.,.you lookei so handsome t€sterda]', Shota. It made me wish I were a bov.

You were the best dressed of them all.",.I looked good! You were beautifirll Even'body said vou were prettier than

anV of the giils in the quarter, eren vour sister 6maki. Boy, I'd be proud ifvou

*.r. -y sltert I'd troid my head up rvith a girl like vou alongide me' But I

don't have anv brothers or sisters. Hey, Midori, what do you say we have our

picture takenl I'll wear what I did vesterdav and you can put on one of your

test striped kimonos, and we'll have Kat6 in suid6jiri take our picture.! won't

Nobu bejealous! He'll tum white, he'll be so envious-a milquetoast like him

wouldn'iknow how'to rurn red. Or maybe he'lljust laugh at us' Who cares?

If Katd takes a big one, he might use our picture in the window! What's the

matter? Don,t yoir like the iJea? you don't look very excited." The bo/s

impatience was disarming."What if I took funnv? iou might not like me any more'" Her laugh had a

beautifirl ring, her sPirits had obviously improved'

The cool of the morning had given way to the summer sun. It was time for

Midori to be going: ,,Shdta, why don't vou come over this evening? we can

float candles on thi pond and chase the fish. It'll be easy now that the bridge

is fixed."Sh6ta beamed as he saw her out. What a beauty Midori was'

26

Nobu of Ry0ge Temple and Midori of the Daikokuya both went to school atthe lkueisha. It had all started at the end of last April, at the spring athleticmeet in Mizunola-no-hara. The cherries had fallen and the wisteria wasalready in bloom in the shade of the new gpeen leaves. They plaved theirgames of tug-of-war and catch andjump rope with such ardor that no oneseemed to notice the sun going down. But what had come over Nobu? He hadlost his usual composure. He stumbled over the root of a pine by the pondand landed hands-first in the red mud.

Midori, who happened to be going by, took one look at his dirtvjacket andproffered her crimson handkerchief, "Here, you can wipe it offwith this."

There were those, however, who were jealous of this attention fromMidori. "For a priest's son, he sure knows how to flirt. Look at him smilewhen he thanks her! what's he going to do-take her for his wife? Ifshe goesto live at the temple, then she really will be Miss Daikoku: from Midori of theDaikokwa to Daikoku, goddess of the kitchen! That ought to suit a priest."3'

Nobu couldn't stomach all the talk. He had ne'er been one to enjov idlegossip and had airvals shunned tales about others. Horv, then, could hetolerate it when he found himself the target of the rumors? He began to dreadhearing Midori's name. He rvas snappish whenerer anr'one mentioned fieldday. "You're not going to bring that up again, are.vou?' It never failed to puthim in a bad mood. Yet what reason was there, reallv, for this loss oftemper?He knew he would do better feigning indifference. A stoic face, wait it out, hetold himself. He could silence his tormentors with a word or two, but theembarrassment was still there. A cold sweat followed every confrontation.

At first, Midori failed to notice any change. on her wav home from schoolone day she called out with her usual fi"iendliness. Nobu trailed behindamid a cluster of people. The blossoms at the roadside had caught her eve,and she waited for him to catch up. "See the pretty flowers, Nobu? I can'treach them. You're tall enouglr-won't.vou pick me some?,

She had sin$ed him out from his younger companions. There was noescaping. He cringed at what he knew the others would be s)ang. Reachingfor the nearest branch, without even choosing, he picked the first flower hesaw, a token effort. He flung it at her and was gone.

"WeU, if that's how he's going to be! Unsociable thing!"After several of these incidents, it dawned on Midori: Nobu was being

mean to her deliberately. He was never rude to any of the others, onlyher. When she approached, he fled. If she spoke to him, he became angry. Hewas sullen and self-conscious. Midori had no idea how to please him, and inthe end she gave up tr,'ing. Let him be perverse; he was no friend of hers. Seeif she'd speak to him after he'd cut her to the quick. .,Hello's" in the street

Child's Play

@Child's Pl4v 269

were a thing of the past. It would take important business indeed before she

would deign to talk io him. A great river now stretched between them that all

boats were forbidden to cross. Each of them walked alone on separate banks

of the stream.From the dav afler the festiral, Midori came to school no more. She could

wash the mud from her face, but the shame could not be scrubbed awav so

easilv.They sat together side by side at school-Ch6kichi's gang and the main-

street gang-and one might hare erpected that they could get along' But

there had ahval's been a sharP division.It was the act of a coward to attack a weak, defenseless gal. Everyone

knew chokichi was as violent and as stuPid as thev come. But if he hadn't

had Nobu backing him, he could never have behaved so brazenlv. And that

Nobul In front oi others he pretended to be gentle and wise, but a look

behind the scenes would rereal that he was the one pulling all the strings.

Midori didn't care if he was ahead of her in school, or how good his grades

were. So what ifhe was the voung master of Rrnige Temple! she, after all, was

Midori of the Daikokuva, and not beholden to him in the slightest. She had

never borrorved a sin$e sheet of paper. So rvho were thev to call her a tramP,

or those other names Chokichi had used? She rvasn't about to be impressed

just because Rluge Temple had a prominenl parishioner or two'

What abouithi patrons her sister flmaki had? The banker Kawa, a steady

customer for three vears norv; Yone, from the stock erchange; and that short

one, the member of parliament-rvh1', he'd been all set to buv her sisteis

contract and marn,her, till 6maki decided she could do without him. And

he was somebodvl Just ask the ladv rvho ran omaki's house. Go ahead and

ask, if vou thought she rvas making it up. Where would the Daikokula be

without her sister? why do you think even the owner of the house was ner€r

curt with Midori and her parents?Just take that porcelain statue of Daikoku,

the one he kept in the aliove. Once when she was playrng shuttlecock, she

knocked over a vase accidentally and smashed the mastey's favorite statue to

smithereens. He was sitting right in the next room drinking.And all he said

was, "Midorirtou're tuming into a little tombov." Not one word of reproach.

Had it been anvone else, vou can be sure, he wouldn't have stopped there'

The maids were gFeen with enry. No question about it, the child's privileges

derived from her sistey's position. Midori knew it, too. Her parents were mere

caretakers for the masteis house, but her sister was 6maki of the Daikokuva.

she didn't hare to take insults from the likes of chokichi. And too bad for him

if the little priest wanted to be mean to her. Midori had had enough of school.

She was born stubborn and she was not about to suffer anyone's contempt.

That day she broke her pencils and threw away her ink; she-would spend her

time playing with her real friends. She wasn't going to need her abacus or her

books.

270 Child's Plav

@In evening thev rush into the quarter, at darvn they leave ress cheerfirlv. It,s alonely ride home, with onlv dreams of the nilht ;d;;;;;;;; _""company' Getawavs are under co'er. A hat pulred low, a towel around theface' More than one of these gentlemen would rather that you didn,t look. Towatch. will only make you feel uneaw. That smirk of theirlnot naifteaseawith themselves as the sting of their iad/s farewell slap sinks in. after'all, shewouldn't want him to forget her. careful when vou get to sakamoto. Thevegetable carts come ba'eling back from the eariv mJrning *.rL.i w"r"tout when you hit Crazv Street. Until Mishima Shrine, you wJn,t be safe fromthose who wander home all gaga and enraptured irom the night before.Their faces never look so resolute the mornin.g after. It's rude tJsav it, butdonl the-v all suggest love's fools? The fishwiveJseldom hesitate io ,u- ,rr.*up' Look, there goes a man rvith monev. But that one over there, he courdn,thave a pennv to his name.

- one need hardlv cite.the chinese "song of Everrasting sorrou/,3r and the

heights to which yang's daughter rose t-o see that thJre are times rvhendaughters are more valuable than sons. lvtan' a princess comes into theworld among the shanties of the back street. Todarrshe calls herself *snory',in one of those srvank geisha houses over in Tsukiji, a celebrated beauh,whose accomplishments in dance ha'e entertained i nobleman o, n*ro-i,rt'esterdav she was a mere delinquent and she earned her spending monevmaking

l]"-tlg cards,.r'ou knorv. "what kind of tree does rice gr"-"""tri;asks, as if she'd grolvn up in the lap of l'xun'. Around here, of"course, she isnot the celebrio she used to be. once thev leare, they're soon forgotten.Alreadv she has been ecripsed b.v the dve-makerrs second daughter, Kolichi, ahome-grown florverofa girl, whose namevoull hear throughout the park. Theh!:Tr are up these darr at The wew tgriin Senzoku, where that one rvorks.

Night and dav, it's the daughters thaivou hear of. A boy is about as usefirlas a mutt snifling round the rubbish. Everv shopkeeperrs so., is a wastrel. Atseventeen, the age of insolence, the.voung men bandtogether. Before they gocompJetely gallant-you rton't see an1, flutes tucked intJsashes,vet_thwjoinup with a leader whose a]i:as is invariably a solemn, grandiose arrair.'rnevdeck themselves out with matching r""*lr and matcliing paper r."t"*r.l-iwon't be long now before thev ream to gamble ana to"wiiao-+top trr.qu?rte_r' Bantering with the courtesans wilr begin to come more easilr,. Evenwith the serious ones, the family business is-only something for tie day.fack

from_ lhe evening bath they come in kirnonos of a rakis"h *,, orraJ.

*"4S. "Hey, did you see the new one? At What's-Its-Name? She looks

like the gitl at the sewing shop, over in Kanasu$. But, with that fi-urnylittle nose of hers, she's even u$ier." It's the onr,ithing remotely on their

Child's Pla-v 277

minds. They bum tobacco, a piece of tissue at every house. The pats andpinches they exchange with each beautv along the wavz tlese are the thingsthat bring a lifetime of renown. Even the sons of perfectly upstandingfamilies decide to style themselves as local toughs. They are forever pickingfights around the Gate.

Ah, the power of women. One need hardly sav more. In the quarter,prosperity makes no distinctions between the autumn and the spring. Escortlanterns are not in vogue these davs, and still the men are carried away. All ittakes is the echo of a pair of sandals. Here she comes! The little girl from theteahouse who will talte them to their ladies. Clip-clop, clip-clop. The soundmin$es with the music of the theater. Thev hear it and they stream into thequarter. If you ask them what thqne after, it's a flowing robe, a scarletcollar, a baroque coiffure, a pair of sparkling eyes and lips with paintedsmiles. The beauties may in fact hare little of the beautifi:l about them. Theminute thei'are courtesans, thev climb the pedestal. Those ofyou from otherparts mav find it all a little hard to understand.

Needless to say, Ivlidori, who spent her dare and nights immersed in such aworld, soon took on the color of the quarter. In her eves' men were not suchfearsome things. And her sister's calling was nothing to disparage. When

6maki was on the verge of learing for the cin', how Midori had cried. Not inher wildest dreams had she hoped to accompany her sister. And now herethev were. Who wouldn't enrv a sister like Omaki? What with her recentsuccess, it rvas nothing for her to rePal'all the debts she had ever owed herparents. Midori had no notion of u'hat price 6maki might have paid to reignsupreme in her profession. To her it was all a game. She knew about thecharms and tricks the girls rvould use. Simpering to summon men theylonged for, like mice grabbing cheese. Tapping on the lattice when thev madea wish. She knew the secret signals thev would use to give their guests aparting pat. She had mastered the special language ofthe quarter, and shedidn't feel the least embarrassed when she used it.

It_lgas-gll-elitgg-Sgd. She rvas fourteen. When she caressed her dolls, she

could have been a prince's child. But for her, all lessons in manners andmorals and the wifelv arts were topics to be left at school. What never ceasedto capture her attention were the rumors of her sister's suitors-who was in

and who was out of favor-the costumes of the serving girls, the beddinggifts that men would lavish on 6maki,t'the teahouse tips for the introduc-tion of a patron. What was bright and colorfirl was good, and what was notwas bad. The child was still too,voung to exercise discretion. She was alwaystaken with the flower just before her eves. A headstrong girl by nature'Midori indulged herselfby fluttering about in a world that she had fashionedfrom the clouds.

Crazy Street, Sleepy Street. The half-witted, groggr gentlemen all pass thisway as thev head home. At the gate to this village of late risers, the sweepers

2TZ Child's Play

and the sprinkJers have already cleaned the streets. But look down mainstreet. They have roosted for the night among the slums of Mannenchd orYamabushichd, or perhaps Shintanimachi, and now here thev come: whatfor want of anv other word one might as well call "entertainers." The singingcandy man. T'he two-bit player. The puppeteers. The jugglers and the ac-robats. The dancers with their parasols. The clowns who do the lion dance.TheA dress is as varied as their arts, a gauze of silk, a sash of satin. Theclowns prefer the cotton prints from Satsuma, with black bands round thewaist. Men, pretty women, troupes of five, seven, even ten, and a lonely oldman, all skin and bones, who totters as he clutches his battered samisen.And, look, there's a little grl of five or so thqy've got to do the Kinokunidance.s Over there, with the red ribbons on her sleeves. But none of themstop here. They know where the business is, and they hurrv to the quarter.The guest who has lingered at the teahouse, the beautv in a melancholymood-these are the ones it pavs to entertain. The profits are too goodlo $veit up, or to waste time with benefit performances along the wav. Not eren themost tattered and suspiciousJooking beggar would bother to loiter aroundhere.

A lady minstrel passed before the paper shop. Her hat all but concealed herstriking face, vet she sang and plaved with the bearing of a star. .,It,s a shamewe never get to hear the end of her song," the shopkeeperrs wife complained.Midori, bright from her morning bath, was lounging on the shop's front srep,watching the parade pass b1'. She pushed her hair up with her bo:ovoodcomb. "Wait here. I'll bring her backl"

The child never mentioned slipping something in the ladt's slee'e to coaxher to perform but, sure enough, back in tow she came to sing the requestedsong of thwarted love. '"Thank you very much for vour patronage,', she con-cluded in her honeyed tone, and even as it echoed they knew that thgv werenot about to hear its likes again.

"Io think-a mere child could have arranged it!" blstanders maweled,more impressed with Midori than with the minstrel.

"Wouldn't it be fun to have them all perform?' Midori whispered to Sh6ta.*The samisen and the flute and the drums! The singers and the dancers!Everything we never get more than just a $impse ofl',

Even for Midori, the proposal was ambitious. ,.Don,t overdo it, girl,,'Sh6tamuttered.

'"Ihus have I heard it spokenr" the reverend priest intoned the sutra. As theholy words were carried from the temple by the soft breeze through thepines, thw should have blown away all dust within the heart.

Child's PlaY 273

But smoke rose from fish broiling in the kitchen. In the cemetery diapers

had been seen drying over tombstones. Nothing wrong here in the eyes of the

order, perhaps; those who fancied their clerics above worldly desires,

though, founa tn" aoitg at Ryuge Temple rather too earthly for their

tastes.eHere the fortunes of the head priest were as handsome as his stomach.

Both had rounded out nicelv through theyears. The man's glow ofwell-being

beggared description: not the sunny pink ofthe cherries, not the deep pink of

thipeach; fiom the top ofhis freshly shaven Pate to the bottom ofhis neck'

he sione like burnished copper. When he whooped with laughter-bushy,

salt-and-pepper evebrows floatin$ heavenward-the noise of the old man's

excess could have toppled Buddha from the altar.

The priest's young wife (she was only in her forties) was not an unattrac-

tive woman. Her skin was fair, and she wore her thinning hair in a small,

modest bun. She was alwals cordial when people came to pray' Even the

florist's wife outside the temple gte held her tongue where the reverend's

wife was concerned-the fruit, you mav be sure, of the temple lady's kindli-

ness: a hand-me-down here, a leftorer there. At one time, she herself had

been among the parishioners. But her husband died youn$, and, having

nowhere to turn, she came to do the serving at the temple. In exchange for

meals, she took over the washing and the cooking. Before long she was out in

the grave"vard, srveeping awav with the best of the grotrnd*men. The priest

*"r-q,ti.i to offer his compassion, and quicker still to calculate the advan-

tages. The woman knew full rvell that the difference in their ages' some

tw:entv years, might make the arrangement aPPear a bit unseemly' But she

had ntwhere else to go, and she carne to coruider the temple a good p-lace to

live out her davs andlo meet her end. She learned not to lose too much sleep

over prying neighbors.Some inlhe congregation found the situation shocking' Soon enough, how-

ever, they began to acknowledge that in her heart the woman was a good

person, a"d they ceased to censure her. While she was carrying their first

"hild, oh*", the priest finally made an honest woman of her. A retired oil

dealer over in Sakamoto, one of the parishioners who went in for such things'

acted as the go-between-ifvou want to call it that'

Nobu was their second child. someday he would do his father proud, but

at the moment he was a taciturn, moody boy who preferred to Pass the day

alone in his room. Ohana, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, a lovely

girl with fine skin and a soft, PlumP little chin. To call her a beauty would be

loing too far, perhaps, but since adolescence she had had her share of

"a-ir.tr. It seemed a shame to waste such a girl, for she might have been a

geisha. who knows? There may be worlds where even Buddha enjoys the

music of the samisen. In this world, at any rate, there was the matter ofwhat

others said, and talk they would if the daughter of a temple became an

274 Child's Play Child's Pla.v

Prayers in the morning, accounts at night. His fathey's face beamed

whenerer his fingers touched the abacus. It was enough to turn the bqy's

stomach. Why on earth had the man become a priest?

There was nothing in his upbringng to make Nobu such a gloomy child'

He had the same parents as ohana. They rvere part of the same cozv, self-

contained family. Yet he was the quiet one. Even when he did speak' his

opinions were ner€r taken seriouslv. His father's schemes, his mother's con-

duct, his sistey's education-to Nobu ever.r'thing thqv did was a travestv. He

had resigned himself to knowing that thev would never listen. How unfair it

was. His friends fowrd him contran' and perverse, but in fact he rvas a

weakling. If anyone maligned him in the slightest, he would run for the

shelter of his room. He was a coward utterlv lacking in the courage to defend

himself. At school thq'called him a brain; his familrt's station was not lowly.

No one knew how weak he reallv was. More than one of his friends consid-

ered Nobu something of a cold fish.

entertainer with her skirt hitched up. what the priest did instead was toestablish ohana in a little tea shop in Tamachi. He put her behind thecounter, where she could vend her charm. yotrng men with no idea in theirheads how tea was weighed and measured belan to gather at the shop.Seldom was Ohana,s empty before midnight.

But his holiness was the buw one. Loans to collect, the shop to oversee,f'ner-als- to arrange' not to mention alr the serrnons every month. when hewasn't flipping through. accounts, he was going through the sutras. If thingdidn't let up, he'd wear himself out, he worild riE "r h"e dragged his floweredcushion onto the veranda' where he fanned himself, haf-nted, and enjoyedhis nightly hooch. He was a fish-eater, and Nobu was the one he sent over rothe main street for the broiled eels that he liked. ,.The big oily ones,-if vouplease." It galled Nobu. His eves never reft his feet as he trirag"a "*, i"'ri.Musashiva- If he heard voices at the paper shop across the stieet, he wouldkgep

9n going. Then, when the "o"ri*", clear, he'd dart into the eel shop.The shame he felt! He would never eat the smellv things.

The reverend was nothing if not practical. Thlre *Jr" ,o.rr" who mightcall him greedy, but that never bothered him a whit. He was neither a timidsoul nor arr idler: give him a spare moment and hed set about fashioningkumade charms. on otori dar-he wourd have his wife out peddlinjihem.whaterer doubts she mav have had about the venture, thgv were shJ.t-livedonce his holiness started to bemoan the kiling everybody erse made, rankamateurs up and down the street. He soon persuaded his ieructant wife, setup a booth not a stone's throw from the temple gate, and installed her thereto sell his charms and good-ruck hairpins. she tied her hair back with aheadband, just like the venrlnrs and all the young men. In the daviime, shefrew5nough to stay out.of sight and min$e with the crowd, leaving theflorist's wife to manage thing. nut when ti'e sun went down-who wouldhave guessed it?-the woma' had a field day. At dusk she took over forhersclf, quite forgetting what a spectacle she made with her sudden itch forprofit. "Eve+'thing marked downl prices slashedl" she barked after a cus_tomer who backed awav. Buffeted and dizzy from the throngp, the victimsoon lost his powers of appraisal. Thev had fled along with irlmory: trvodays earlier he had come to this verv iemple as a pilgm. 'urhree ror onlvseventv-five sen." But her price left room to negotiite. ,.How about five forseventy-three?' "9e16 r'

There were, ofcourse, alr kinds ofsharp practices. Even ifno one from thecongregation heard, Nobu wondered, what would the neighbors think? Andhis.friends?-He could just hear them. Ryige Temple is seliing hairpins now.Nobu's mother is out huckstering like alunatic. Really, didn,tihey it int tt uyought to stop?

_The reverend priest would hear nothing of it. "Knock it off. you don,t knowwhat you're talking about." The mere idea sent the man into paroanms.

The night of the festiral Nobu was sent on an errand to his sister's tea shop in

Tamac-hi, and he was late coming home. Not until the ne-rt morning did he

learn of the fight at the paper shop. when ushimatsu and Bunji and the

others gave him the detaili, the firll impact of Ch6kichi's violent wavs startled

him anlerv. What $,as done was done-but in name he was included in the

yiolence, and it rankled. Norv people would be blaming him for the trouble.

It was three dals before chokichi had the nerve to face Nobu. For once he

must hare felt a little sheepish about the damage he had done' He did not

look forward to Nobu's scolding. "I know vou're probably angry"' he ven-

tured, having waited for the storm to pass. "I couldn't help it, though.

Ever.rrthing got out of hand. I hadn't meant it to happen. You won't hold it

against -., *iU you, Nobu? How were we to know that you'd be gone and

Stota would fly the coop? It's not as thouglr I planned to beat up Sangor6 and

pick a fight with that tramp Midori. Thing just happened' You don't run

.*"1, orrl the lanterns start swingiagl All we wanted was to show a little

-rr*lu, show'em who's boss. It's my fault, I know. I should have listened to

you. But come on Nobu, ifyou get mad now, hou/s it going to look?After I've

lone around telling eveqfoodv you're on our side. You can't leave us in the

iurch. Okay, ,o yoi doni approve ofthis one thing. You be the leader, and

next time we won't botch things up." Gone was the usual swagger'

Nobu couldn't turn his back on ch6kichi. "All right," he siglred. "But

listen-*ully the weak ones, and we'll be the ones in disgrace. We're not

going to gain anlhing fighti"g Sangor6 and Midori. If shdta and his flunkies

i"""ito rli1.tp trouble, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. But let's

,T:f .:.,

q{

276 Child's play

not egg them on." chokichi had to promise: no more fights. For a rebuke, itwas rather mild.

The innocent one was sangor6. Thev had kicked and beaten him to theirhearts' content, and he still ached two, three davs afterward. He couldn,tstand up, he couldn't sit down. Every evening when his father picked up theempty rickshaw and headed for the teahouses, someone would ask him whatwas wrong with the boy. 'say, your sangorO looks a little peaked these davs,,'the caterer remarked, almost accusin$v. "somebody givehim a pound.inf'

Groveling Tetsu they called his father, head alwavs lowered before hisbetters. It didn't matter who-the landlord or someone with monev or theowner of one of the houses in the quarter, where Tetsu pulled his cart-anvof them could make the most impossible demands, and the rickshawmanwould acquiesce. 'lndeed, ofcourse, how right 1ou are." Small wonder, then,what his reaction was to the incident with chdkichi. "He's the landlord's son,isn't he? I don't care if .vou were right. I won't hare vou getting into scrapsrvith him. Now go apologize. you ought to knorv better!" There rvas noavoiding ir. His father made sure that he got down on his knees in front ofLnoKlcnr.

within a week Sangord's rvounds healed and his temper cooled. He wasreadv to forget what he'd been angn'about. For the price ofa carriage ride,

!e was babrsitting again for chdkichi's little brother, walking ro,rrd -ith

the child on his back and lulling it to sleep with nurserv rh-r'mes. sangor6 wassixteen, that age rvhen bors get cocky, but the lumpish figure he cut failed totrouble him. He wandered or€r to the main street, unconcerned as alwavs."Hw, Sangor6. Ha'e vou forgotten -you're a bor,?' Midori and Sh6ta weregreat ones when it came to teasing. "some sight vou make, w.ith that bab-v on-your back!" It didn't matter, thev were still his friends.

In spring the cherrv trees blossom in profirsion. In summer the lanternstwinkle in memon' of the late Tamagiku.3s In fall the festival streets over-flow with ricksharvs. count them: serenlv-five down the road within thespace of ten minutes. Then the autumn hotidavs are over. Here and there ared dragonflv bobs above the rice fields. Beforeiong, quail wilr be calling outalong the moat. Mornings and evenings, the breeze blows cold. At theiun-dries shop, pocket wanners now take the place of mosquito incense. It's sad,somehow, that faint sound of the mortar grinding flour at Tamura's, orer bvthe bridge. The clock at lkdoebi's has a melancholv ring. Fires $ow throug;hall four seasons from the direction of Nippori. It's in autumn thit one beginsto notice them. smoke rises each time one more soul embarks on the.iourneyto the other shore.

Deftly, a geisha plays on the samisen. The refiain reaches the path alongthe bank behind the teahouses. A passerby looks up and listens. Not much ofa songr really, but moving all the same. "Together we shall spend our night of

Child's Pl4v 277

love."36 Women who have done time in the quarter will tell you-it's the

men who begin visiting in fall who Prove to be the trulv faithful ones.

Talk, talk: in this neighborhood, there is always grist for gossip. The details

are tedious, but the stories make the rounds. A blind masseuse, she was onlv

twenlv, killed herself. With a handicap like hers, love was out of the question.

Well she couldn't stand it anv more. Drowned herself in Mizunoya Pond.

Then there are the incidents too commonplace to rate a rumor. Missing

persons: Kichigor6, the greengocer, and Takichi, the carpenter. How come?"Thev picked them up for this," a fellow whispers, and pantomimes a gam-

bler dealing out the cards.A moment ago there were chil&en there, down the street. "Ring-a-ring-a-

ros_v, pocket firll of posies."3t Suddenlv it's quiet now, before you notice. Onlv

the sound ofricksharvs, loud as ever.It was a lonely night. Just rvhen it seemed the autumn rains would go on

and on falling softlv, with a roar a downpour came. At the paper shop thevwere not expecting anvone. The shopkeeperis wife had closed up for the

evening. Inside, plaling marbles,3s rvere Shdta and Midori' as usual, and nvo

or three of the vounger ones. AII at once, Irlidori heard something: "Is that a

customer? I hear footsteps.""l don't hear anrthing," Sh6ta said. He stopped counting out the marbles."Marte someone riants to Plav."Who could it be? They heard him come as far as the $ate, but after that,

not a word, not a sound.

"Boo!" Sh6ta opened the door and stuck his head out. "Hey, who's there?' He

could just make out the back of someone rvalking alon$ beneath the eaves

two or three houses up ahead. "Who is it? Do you want to come inP' He hadslipped Midori's sandals on and was about to run after him, in spite of the

rain. "Oh, it's him." Sh6ta cupped his hand above his head, mimicking a baldmonk. "No use-we can call him all we wantr he won't come."

"Nobu?' Midori asked. '"That old priestl I'll bet he came to buv a writingbrush and scurried off the minute he heard us. Naslv, stuPid' toothless'old-maid Nobu! Just let him come in. I'll tell him what I think. Too bad he

ran away. Let me have the sandals. I want a look." This time Midori pokedher head out. The rain dripped down from the eaves onto her forehead. It

gave her a chill. She pulled back, staring at the shadowy figure as he made hisway around the puddles. He was four or five houses away by now, and he

seemed to cower in the gaslight. His paper umbrella hugged his shoulders.She looked and looked.

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278 Child,s play

Shota tapped her on the shoulder. ..Midori, what is itp,"Nothing," she said absent-mindedlv, returning to the game. (I hate thatlittle altar boyl He can't even conduct his fights in public. He makes thatpious, old-maid face of his and goes sneaking round corners. Isn,t he awfi.rl?My- mother savs people who are straightforward are the good ones. she,sright, don'tyou think, Sh6ta? It,s a sure thing Nobu has ", .il heart, the wayhe lurks around."

"But at least he knows what's what. Not like chdkichi, there's a realmoron. The boy's a total ignoramus,,'Sh6ta said knowin$y.

- "cut it out. You and your big words." Midori laughed and pinched him on

the cheek. "Such a serious facel Since when are you so grown upp'sh6ta was not amused. "Foryour information, it won'ibe longLfore I am

grown up. I'll wear a topcoat with square-cut shoulders like the shopkeeperat Kabata's, and the gold watch Grandmothey's put away for me. I'll wear aring. I'll smoke cigarettes. And for shoes-you're not going to see me in anyclogs. oh, no. I'll wear leather sandals, the good tcina, wittr tripleJaveredheels and fancv satin straps. Won't I look sharp!',

"Yor1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. in triple heels and a square-cut overcoat?, Midori couldn't help snick_ering' "Mm, sure, if vou want to look like a walking medicine bottle.""Oh, quiet. You don't think I've stopped growing, do you? I won't be thisshort forever."

_ "seeing is belie'ing. You know, sh6ta," Midori said, pointing a sarcastic

finger at the rafters, "even the mice laugh when -vou keep making thesepromises." Evervone, the shopkeepers wife included, shook with laughter.

His eves spun; Shdta was completelv serious. ,,Midori makes a;Lke ofeverything. But everyone grows up, you know. whv is what I say so funnv?The day will come when I go walking with my pretty wife. I arwals likethings to be pretlv- If I had to marry someone like that pock-marked ofirku atthe cracker shop, or the girl at the firewood store with the bulgingforehead-no thank you. I'd send her home. No pockmarks for mel,'"How

$ood of you to come, then," the shop wife laughed. .,Haven't younoticed my spots?'

"oh, but you're old. I'm talking about brides. once you're old, it doesn'tmatter."

"I shouldn't have said anything,,'the woman sighed.,.Well, let's see now.There's oroku at the flower shop. she has a pretty face. And Kii at the fruitstand. And who else? who else, I wonder? why, the prettiest one is sittingright next to you. Sh6ta, who will it be? oroku with those eyes of hers? Kii andher lovely voicefe Tell us who."

"What are you talking about? Oroku, Kii-what's so good about them?'shdta's face turned scarlet, and he backed away from the light, irrto a corner."Does that mean it's Midori. then?'

Child's Play 279

"How do I know?'He looked awav, tapping out a song against the wall."The water wheel goes rotrnd and round."{0

Midori and the rest had begun another game of marbles. Her face was notflushed in the slightest.

There would have been no problem ifhe hadn't taken the short cut. But everytime Nobu went offto Tamachi he took the path along the ditch. And everytime he saw it: the lattice gate, the stone lantern' the thatched fence. Thesuruner bamboo blinds were rolled up now alon$ the veranda. He couldn'thelp remembering things. Behind the glass windowsrar her mother would bethere, like some latter-dav widorv of Azcchi at her rosarv; and she would bethere too, straight from the ancient tales, a young Murasaki with her hairbobbed.{2 This was the house of the man rvho owned the Daikokuva.

Yesterday and todav the autumn rains had continued. The winter slipOhana had requested was ready, and Nobu's mother was anxious for her tohave it. She didn't like to ask in such weather, but would he mind taking it tothe shop in Tamachi on his wav to school? The poor girl was waiting for thepackage. Diffident Nobu could never sav no. He took the bundle under hisarm, stepped into his clogs, and started out, clinging to his umbrella as therain lapped at his feet.

He followed the ditch around the quarter, the same path he always took,but today luck was not with him. Just in front of the Daikokuya, the windcame up. He had to tug to keep his umbrella from flying off. He braced hislegs against the wind, when the strap on one of his clogs tore clean away.Now what was he to do?

It was almost enough to make him swear. He had no choice but to tryrepairing the clog himself. He propped his umbrella against the gate andsought shelter underneath its eaves. Yet how was a fled$ing cleric to accom-plish this sort of handiwork? He was flustered, and no matter how hard hetried, he couldn't fix it. He gFew more and more irritated. From his sleeve hetook out the draft of his school composition and tore it up, twisting the stripsof paper in hopes of somehow fashioning a new strap. But the confoundedstorm grew worse again, and his umbrella began to roll away in the wind.This was more than he could tolerate! He reached out to grab theumbrella-but it wasjust his luck-his sistey's package fell from his lap intothe mud. There, now he had mud on his sleeve, too.

A pathetic sight he made, without an umbrella and stranded barefoot inthe downpour. From the window, Midori saw the sad figure beyond the gate.*Look, someone's broken his sandal. Mother, can I give him something to fix

:.';

28O Cbild,s pla,v

it with?'she found a piece ofYizen crepe in the sewing drawer and hurriedinto her clogs. Grabbirg "tt umbrella from the veranda, she dashed outacross the stepping stones toward the front gate.

Then she saw who it was. The blood rushed to Midori,s head. Her heartpounded as ifshe had encountered a dreaded fate. she turned to see, wasanyone watching? Trembling, she inched her way toward the gate. At thatinstant Nobu, too, looked around. He was speechless, he felt cold sweat beginto bead. He wanted to kick offthe other sandal and nrn awav.

Had Midori been herself, she would have seized on Nobu's predicament totell him what she thought. she would have sneered at his cowardice andheaped upon him everybit ofabuse that he deserved. Didn't he think he owedher an apologr? Bossing evervone around from backstage, ruining all the fi:nat the festival,just because he was angry at Sh6ta. And letting them beat uphelpless sangord! He was the one who had incited chokichi to call her thosen€unes. And what was wrong with being a courtesan, anyr,lray, oen if shewere one? She didn't owe him anything. With her parents and her sister andthe man from the Daikokura-what did she need to ask farors of a broken-down priest for? He had better stop calling her names. Something to sav, wasthere? Then he could come out in the open, like a man. Anv time, anv time.She'd meet him. What did he have to say to that? She would have grabbedhim by the sleeve and giren him a piece of her mind, all right. Nobu wouldnot have had a praver.

But instead she cringed in the shadows of the gate. She didn't more, herheart throbbed. This was not the old Midori.

Whenever he came near the Daikokuva, timorous Nobu hurried past withoutso much as looking left or right. But today, the unlucky rain, the uluckywind, and, to make matters wors€, the broken sandal strap! There wasnothing for it but to stop and make a new one. He was upset enough already,and then he heard the sound of steps on the flagstones-he felt as if ice waterhad been pourd down his back. Even without looking, he knew who itwould be. He shivered and his face changed color. He turned away andpretended to be hard at work. But he was panic-stricken. It didn,t look as ifthe clog would ever be of use again.

From the garden, Midori peered at him. How clumsy he was; he couldnever do anything right. Who ever heard of trying to make a strap out ofanything as flimsy as a piece of paper---or straw, is that what he was using?Old ladies, maybe. It would never hold. Oh, and didn't he know he wasgetting mud all over the bottom of his jacket? There went the umbrella. Whydidn't he close it before he propped it up? How it i:ritated her to watch his

fumbling. .,Here's some cloth to fx it with." If only she could have said it.

Instead,ihe stood rooted to the spot, hiding, staring. The girl was oblivious to

the rain soaking througlr her sleeres.Midori's mother, unawate ofwhat was happenin$, called out. "Midori, the

iron,s readv. What are you doing out there? Don't you know better than to

play in the rain? You'll catch another cold."- '?,ll right, coming." If onlv Nobu wouldn't hear. Her heart raced, her head

seemed to reel. The last thing she could do was oPen the gate, but she could

not turn her back on him, either. What was she to do? There-she hurled the

rag outside the lattice without saying an1'thing. Nobu pretended not to

,roii.". Oh! IIe was his same old nastv sell] It crushed her, the tears welled

up. Why did he have to be so mean? Why didn't he just tell her what it was? It

made her sick. But her mother kept on calling. It was no use. She started for

the house. After all, whv should she be sentimental? She wasn't going to let

him see Midori eat humble Pie.He heard her walk awal'; his eves wandered after her. The scarlet scrap of

Yfizen silk lav in the rain, its pattern of red maple leaves near enough to

touch. odd, how her one gesture moved him, and yet he could not bring

himself to reach out and take the cloth. He stared at it vacantlyr and as he

looked at it he felt his heart break.He bun$ed everything. Nobu sighed and took the cord from his jacket and

wrapped it round the clog. It rvas unsightlv and makeshift, but perhaps it

*oia do, perhaps he could shrmble along. But all the wav to Ohana's? It

was a little late t; be rvondering that, he thought as he stood up, his sisterrs

package tight under his arm. He had onlv gone two or three steps when he

iooked back agin at the tatter of silk, bright with auturnn maples. It was

hard for him to leare it there."Nobu, what's the matter? Break vour strap? What a sight vou are!"

Nobu turned around to see who owned the unexpected voice. It was obnox-

ious Chokichi, decl<ed out like a young gallant. He had on his best-dress

kimono,a3 and he wore his orange sash profligtely low on the hips' His new

jacket had a fancy black collar, and the umbrella he carried was festooned

with the trademark of one of the houses in the quarter. His hig;tr clog were

sportiog lacquered rain covers-this rvas something new. what pride there

was in the young man's swagger.'"Ihe strap bioke, and I was wonderin$ what to do," Nobu answered

helplessly. "I'm not very good at these thing."..l.Io, ytu wouldn't be. It's all right, wear mine. The straps won't give out.""But what will vou do/'"Don't worry. I'm used to it. I'll just go like this," he said, tuckin$ up the

bottom of his kimono. ,'Feels much better than wearing sandals, anyway.'

He kicked offhis rain clog."You're going to go barefoot? That won't be fair."

Child's Play

242 Child's play

"I don't mind. I'm used to going barefoot. someone rike you has soft feet.You could never walk barefoot on the gravel. Come on, wearthese,,, he urged,arranging his sandals obligin$y. what a spectacre: chokichi was more de-tested than the plague god himselll and here he was with soft words on histongue and bushy eyebrows moving solicitouslv. .,I'll take your sandals andtoss them in at the back door. Here, let,s swit;h.,'

Chokichi took the broken clogs, and they parted, Nobu bound for hissister's in Tamachi and ch6kichi for home before they met again at school..

The silk shred lav abandoned bv the gate. Its red maple leJves shimmeredin the rain.

This year there were three otori fair dars.s Rain had spoired the second, buttodav, like the {irst, was perfect for a iestivar. rhrongs packed otori shrine,young men surged into the quarter through the side gaies. Thq,say thet'vecome to pav a visit to the shrine.-They are pilgrims, bui, ah, the roartf-vounglaughter is loud enough to rend the pillars lording up the t e"t"r,s, io t"",awa-v the verv cord from which the earth hangs. Front and back of the mainsireet of the quarter look as if thelrve been rerrersed. Today, the sidedrawbridges are dorvn clear around the moat, and the crowds keep pouringin. "coming through, coming through." what hare we here? some flat-bottomed boat trrring to navigite these=rvaves ofpeopre? who win soon forgetthe excitement in the air? peals of laughter, incessant chatter echo from thelittle shops along the ditch. strains oi the samisen rise {i.om the first_classpleasure houses towering several stories in the skr,.

shota took a holidal'from collecting interest. ie dropped in at sangord'spotato stall, and then he visited his friend Donkev atiire dumplrng"strop."How are you doing? Making anv monev?'The srveets looked p."tgi -r;rr_viting.

"shdta! You're just in time. I've run out ofbean jam and don't klow whatto do' I've already put more on to cook, but they-keep coming and I don,twant to turn them away. What should I do?'"Don't be sfupid. Look what vou've got on the sides of the pot. Add somewater and some sugar, and you can feed another ten or foentv people.

fv.eVtoff ay1

lt-you won't be the first. Besides, who's going to notice howit tastes in all this commotion? start sening, start selling.;shita was arreadyat the sugar bowl.

Donkey's one-eyed mother was filred with admiration. ,.you,ve become areal merchant, Shdta. I,m almost afraid of you."

"Ihis? I saw Clammy do the same thing in the alley. It's not my idea.,, Thewoman's praise did not go to his head. "Hey, do you know where Midori is?

lii

l$,l : 1l;:i

l::i| {",l ili.l i

Child's Play 283

I've been looking for her since this moming. Where'd she go offto? She hasn'tbeen to the paper shop. I know that. I wonder if she's in the quarter."

"Oh, Midori, she went by a little while ago. I saw her take one of the sidebridges into the quarter. Shdta, you should have seen her. She had her hair alldone up like this." He made an oafish effort to suggest the splendor ofMidori's new grown-up hairdo. "She's reallv something, that girl!" The boywiped his nose as he extolled her.

"Yes, she's even prettier than her sister. I hope she won't end up likeOmaki." Shota looked down at the ground.

"What do vou mean-that wor:ld be wonderful! Next year I'm going toopen a shop, and after I sare some money I'lI buy her for a nightl" He didn'tunderstand things.

"Don't be such a smart aleck. Even if-vou tried, she wouldn't have anrthingto do with vou."

*Whv? Whv should she refuse mel'"Shejust wor:Id." Shdta flushed as he laughed. "I'm going to walkaround for

a while. I'll see you later." He lvent out the gate.

"Grorving up,she plars among the butterfliesand florvers.

But she turns sixteen,and all she knorvsis rvork and sorrow."{5

He sang the popular refrain in a voice that was curiouslv quavering forhim, and repeated it again to himself. His sandals drummed their usual ringagainst the paving stones, as all at once his little figure vanished into thecrowd.

Inside the bustling quarter, Shdta found himself swept along into a cornerof the compound. It rvas there he saw lvlidori. Whv, it certainlv was Midori ofthe Daikokuya; she was talking to an attendant from one of the houses, and,just as he had heard, her hair was done up in the $orious shimada. slvle of ayoung woman.{d And -vet she looked shy today. Colored ribbons cascadedfi'om her hair, tortoise-shell combs and flowered hairpins flickered in thesun. The whole effect was as bright and stately as a Kvdto doll. Sh6ta wastongue-tied. Any other time, he would have rushed over and taken her arm.

"Shdta!" Midori came nrnning up. "Ifyou have shopping to do, Otsuma,whv don'tyou go on ahead? I'll go home with him." She nodded good-by to thelady.

"Oh, you dontt want me around, now that you've for:nd another friend, isthat it?' Otsuma smiled as she headed down a narrow street of shops. "l'll beoffto Ky6machi, then."

"You look nice, Midori." Sh6ta tugged at her sleeve. "When did you get that

284 Child's Play

new hairdo? This morning? Why didn't you come and show it to me?' Hepretended to be angry.

Midori had difiiculgv speaking. "I had it done this morning at my siste/s. Ihate it." Her spirits &ooped. She kept her head down; she couldn't bear itwhen a passerby would gawk.

when she felt so awkward and unhappv, flattery onlv sounded like an insult.People turned to admire her and she thought thev were jeering.

"Shdta, I'm going home.""Why don't you plal'? Did someone scold you? I bet you had a fight with

-vour sister."Midori felt her face color. Sh6ta was still a child, clearly. Where did one

begin to explain?Thw passed the dumpling shop, and Donkey called out theatricallv, ,,you

two sure are friendlv." It made her feel like crying."Shdta, I don't want to walk rvith y,ou." She hurried offahead of him.She had promised to go with him to the festiral, and now here she rvas,

headed in the opposite direction. "Aren't vou going to come?, he velled,running after her. "Whv are vou going home? you might at least explain!,'

Midori walked on without answering, hoping to elude him. Sh6ta wasstunned. He pulled at her sleere. It was all so strange. Midori's face onlyturned a deeper red. "tt's nothing, Shdta." But he knew that this was not thetruth.

He followed her in through the gate at her house and onto the veranda.There was no need to hesitate; he had been coming here to plav for vears.

"Oh, Shdta," her mother gpeeted him. "Nice to see.vou. She,s been in a badmood all day. I don't know what to do with her. See ifyou can cheer her up.',

Sh6ta became quite the grown-up. "something the matter, is there?'"No, no." Her mother ggve an odd smile. "She'll get over it in no time. She,s

just spoiled. I suppose she's been grumpv with her friends, too? I tell -you,sometimes I've had it with that girl." Her mother turned to look at her, butMidori had gone into the other room. Her sash and her outer kimono werediscarded on the floor and Midori lav face-down underneath a quilt.

Sh6ta approached her glngerly. "Midori, what is it? Don,t you feel well?Please tell me what's the matter." He held back as he spoke to her. Whatshould he do? He folded and unfolded his hands in his lap. Midori saidnothing. He could hear her sobbing into her sleeve. Her bangp, too short stillfor sweeping up into the great hairdo, were matted with tears. Somethingwas terribly wrong, but, child that he was, Shdta had no idea what it could

Child's Pl4v 285

be, or how to console her. He was totallv bewildered. "Please tell me what itis. You've never said anvthing to me' so how can you be angr,v with me?' Helooked at her warily.

"Shdta, it isn't you." Midori wiped her eyes.But when he asked her what it was, then, she couldn't answer. There were

just sad things, vague things. Feeling . . . She couldn't put them into words.Thev made her cheeks burn. Nothing she could point to-and yet latelyever-vthing discouraged her. So manv thoughts; none of them would ever haVeoccu::red to the Midori of-vesterdav. This awkwardness all of a sudden! Howwas she to erplain it? If they would just leare her alone . . . she'd be happy tospend night and day in a dark room. No one to talk to her, no one to stare.Even if she felt unhappy, at least she would be spared the embarrassment. Ifonly she could go on plaving house forever-with her dolls for companions,then she'd be happy again. Oh! She hated, hated, hated this growing upl Whvdid thing have to change? What she rvould give to go back a year, tenmonths, seven months, eren.

Thev were the thoughts of someone alreadv old.She had forgotten that Shota rvas there. But he kept on pestering her until

she wanted to drive him arvav. "For God's sake, go home, Sh6ta. I feel likedying, with vou here. All these questions give me a headache. Thev make medizzv. I don't want anlbody here! Just go home!"

She had never treated him so cruell1'; Sh6ta could make no sense of it. Hemight as well have been groping through a cloud of smoke. "You sure areacting strange, Midori. I don't know whv 1'ou talk this wat'. You must becrazv." The regrets were too much for him. He spoke calmlv enough' butnow his eyes smarted. This wouldn't help matters.

"Go homel Go home, rvill vou! If you don't get out of here, you're not mvfriend at all. I hate you, Sh6ta."

"If that's the wav you feel, I'm sorry to have bothered vou." He darted offthrough the garden without so much as a farewell to Midori's mother, whohad gone to check the water in the bath.

Sh6ta made a beeline for the paper shop, ducking, dodging his way throughthe crowds.

Sangord was there, his holiday stall sold out and the take jin$ing in his

pocket. Sh6ta burst in upon them just as Sangord was playing the part ofbigbrother. "Anything you want-it's yours!" The younger onesjumped up anddown with $ee.

"Hey, Shota! I was looking for you. I made a lot of moneytodav. I'll treat vou."

286 Child's Plav

"You idiot. Since when do you treat me? Don't start talking big." Thesewere rough words for Shdta. '"Ihat's not what I came here for." He lookeddejected.

"What happened? A fight?' Sangor6 shoved a halGeaten doughnut into hispocket. "Who was it? Nobu? Chokichi? Where? The temple? Was it in thequarter? It won't be like the last time! This time, they won't take us bysurprise. There's no wav we can lose. I'm ready. Let me lead. We canttchicken out, Shdta.D

The call to arms onlv infuriated him. "Take it eas,v," Sh6ta snapped.'"Iherewas no fight."

*But you came in here as if something terrible had happened. I thought itwas a fight. And besides, if you don't do it tonight, we won't have anotherchance. Chokichi's losing his right arm."

"Huh?'"His accomplice, Nobu. Didn't -you hear? I just found out. M.v lather was

talking with Nobu's mother. Any day now, he's going offto learn how to be amonk. Once he puts those robes on, they'll cover up his fighting arm. ThoseIong, floppy robes-how can he roll up his sleeves in them? But -you knowwhat that means. Next year, you'll have the front and the back street toyourself."

"All right, quiet. For a few coins therrll go over to Chokichi. I could have ahundred like you, and it wouldn't ercite me in the least. Thev can go wherethgv like for all I care. I'll fight my own battles. It was Nobu I wanted to beat.But if he's running offon me, it can't be helped. t thought he was going nextyear, after he graduated. What a coward-whv is he going so soon?'

But it wasn't Nobu he was worried about. Tonig;ht, there were none of theusual songs liom Sh6ta. Midori was on his mind. The throngs ofmerrymakerspassing in the street onlv left him feeting lonely. What was there to celebrate?

The lamps went on, and Sh6ta rolled over on his side. Some festival,everything had ended in a mess!

From that day on Midori was a di{ferent person. When she had to, shewent to her sistey's rooms in the quarter, but she never went to play in town.Her Ii'iends missed her and came to invite her to join them in the firn again."Maybe later. You go on ahead." Empty promises, always. She was cool evento Shdta, once her closest friend. She was forever blushing now. It seemedunlikely that the paper shop would see the old dancing and the games asecond time.

People were puzzled. Was the girl sick? "No, no. She'll be her old selfagainr" her mother assured them. *She's just having a rest. One of her littlevacations." The woman smiled. And yet there seemed to be more to it.

There was praise for Midori norv from some quarters. So ladylike' sowell-behaved. Yes,but whata shame, others mourned: she was such adelight-fid. saucv child.

Child's Play zEz

The front street was quiet suddenly, as if a light had gone out. seldom didshota sing his songs any more. At night you could see him with his lanternmaking the rounds for the interest payments. The shadow moving along themoat looked chilly, somehow. From time to time, sangor6 woulJ;oin him,and his voice rang out, comical as ever.

Evervone talked about Nobu, but Midori had not heard any of the rumors.The former spitfire was still closeted awav somewhere. with all thesechanges lately, she hardly knew herself. She was timid now, eveMhinq em-barrassed her.

-One frostv morning, a paper narcissus lav inside the gate. No one knew

what it was doing there, but Midori took a fancv to it, foi some reason, andshe put it in a bud vase. It was perfect, she thought, and yet almost sad in itscrisp, solitarv shape. That same day-she wasn't sure exactlv where-Midoriheard of Nobu's pians. Tomorrow h" *", leaving for the r"-ir,"ry.ine colorof his robes would never be the same.