Six

by Natsume Sōseki

Noda is detestable. I think it would be better for Japan to sink someone like him with a Takuan stone to the bottom of the sea. I also dislike the voice of the red shirt. He must be deliberately putting on a show with his natural voice to appear gentle. No matter how much he tries to act refined, that face is a lost cause. Even if there were something to fall for, it would only be someone like Madonna. However, the vice principal says things that are more difficult than Noda. When I go home and think about his arguments, they seem somewhat plausible. He doesn't say anything clearly, so it's hard to guess, but it seems he is warning us to be careful because Yama-arashi is a bad guy. If that's the case, he should just clearly state that, but it's not very manly. If he's such a bad teacher, he should be dismissed quickly. The vice principal, despite being a Bachelor of Literature, lacks courage. He's the kind of man who can't even say names openly while gossiping, so he's the epitome of a coward. Cowards are kind, so that red shirt is probably a kind-hearted person like a woman. Kindness is kindness, and a voice is a voice, so just because I dislike the voice doesn't mean I should disregard the kindness. Still, the world is a strange place. It's mocking to have someone I dislike being kind while friends I get along with are villains. It's probably because it's rural, so everything goes in the opposite direction of Tokyo. It's a dangerous place. Soon, fires might freeze, and stones could turn into tofu. However, that Yama-arashi doesn't seem like the type to incite students; he doesn't seem like the prankster type. They say he is the most respected teacher, so if he wanted to, he could probably do most things, but first of all, he could save himself the trouble by directly confronting me and picking a fight. If I'm a nuisance, he could just say, 'This is the reason, you're a nuisance, so please resign.'It seems like it would be fine to say so. Things can be managed depending on the consultation. If their argument is valid, I will resign tomorrow. This is not the only place where rice can be grown. No matter where I go, I intend not to die a miserable death. Yama-arashi is quite the person who can't talk much.

When I came here, the first person to treat me to ice water was Yama-arashi. If I were to be treated to ice water by someone with such a dual nature, it would affect my reputation. I only drank one cup, so I only made him pay one sen and five rin. However, whether it's one sen or five rin, being indebted to a fraudster doesn't sit well with me until I die. When I go to school tomorrow, I will return that one sen and five rin. I owe Kiyo three yen. I haven't paid back that three yen even after five years have passed. It's not that I can't pay it back. I won't pay it back. Kiyo doesn't expect me to return it anytime soon, nor do I intend to treat it as a matter of course. The more I worry about this, the more I begin to doubt Kiyo's heart, which is the same as tarnishing Kiyo's beautiful heart. Not returning it is not about trampling on Kiyo, but because I consider Kiyo to be a part of me. Kiyo and Yama-arashi are not even comparable, but whether it's ice water or sweet tea, silently receiving favors from others is an act of kindness towards someone I regard as a full-fledged person. It would be enough to just settle the matter by paying the fare, but feeling indebted in my heart is not something that can be repaid with money. Even without rank or title, I am a fully independent person. An independent person must consider bowing their head as a gratitude more precious than a million ryo.

I feel that I have treated Yama-arashi to one sen and five rin, and in doing so, I have given a gratitude more precious than a million ryo. Yama-arashi should feel indebted. Moreover, to behave despicably behind the scenes is quite suspicious. If I go tomorrow and return that one sen and five rin, there will be no debts or loans. After that, I will pick a fight.

After thinking this far, I became sleepy and fell into a deep sleep. The next day, since I had something on my mind, I left for school earlier than usual to wait for Yama-arashi. However, he didn't come out for a long time. Ura-nari came out. The Chinese literature teacher came out. Noda came out. In the end, even Akashirtsu came out, but on Yama-arashi's desk, only a piece of chalk was standing quietly. As soon as I entered the waiting room, I thought I would return it, so from the time I left home, I had been holding a one-sen five-rin coin in my palm like a hot spring. Since I sweat a lot, when I opened it, the one-sen five-rin coin was sweating. I thought that if I returned the coin that was sweating, Yama-arashi would say something, so I placed it on the desk, blew on it, and held it again. Then, Akashirtsu came and said, "I was rude yesterday, it must have been a nuisance," to which I replied, "It wasn't a nuisance, thanks to you, I got hungry." Then Akashirtsu leaned on Yama-arashi's desk, brought that board surface close to the side of my nose, and I wondered what he was doing when he said, "Please keep secret what we talked about on the boat yesterday when you were leaving. You haven't told anyone yet, have you?" He seemed to be a worrywart of a man, just by the voice he made. It is certain that I won't talk. However, since I was already prepared with the one-sen five-rin in my palm with the intention of talking from now on, being silenced by Akashirtsu here would be a bit troublesome. Akashirtsu is also Akashirtsu. Even if he doesn't point out Yama-arashi by name, it is irresponsible for him to say that it would be a nuisance to solve such a mystery that can be inferred so much. Originally, he should have come out while I was in the middle of starting a war with Yama-arashi and should have boldly supported me. Only then would he be the principal of a school, and there would be a meaning to wearing Akashirtsu.That's what it means.

I told the vice principal that I hadn't spoken to anyone yet, but I intended to talk to Yama-arashi from now on. Then, the man in the red shirt showed a look of surprise and said, "You can't do something so unlawful. I don't recall saying anything about Horita-kun to you in particular. If there's any kind of violence here, it would be a huge problem for me." He asked a strangely out-of-place question. "You didn't come to school to cause a commotion, did you?" Of course not. I replied that it would be a problem for the school if I received a salary or caused a disturbance.

Then the man in the red shirt, sweating, pleaded, "In that case, please keep what happened yesterday just for your reference and don't speak of it." I responded, "Alright, I would be troubled too, but if it's such a bother to you, let's drop it." The man in the red shirt pressed, "Are you okay?" I couldn't tell how far his femininity extended. If all literature majors were like that, it would be boring. He was calmly making illogical and nonsensical demands. Moreover, he was doubting me. Embarrassingly enough, I am a man. I do not harbor the vile thought of going back on a promise behind someone's back.

At that moment, the owners of the desks on either side also came to school, so the man in the red shirt quickly returned to his seat. The man in the red shirt walked in a pretentious manner. Even when moving around the room, he carefully placed his shoes down to avoid making noise. It was the first time I learned that walking quietly could be a point of pride. It's not like he was practicing to be a thief; he could just walk normally. Eventually, the school bell rang. Yama-arashi never showed up. With no other choice, I placed one sen and five rin on the desk and headed to the classroom.

Due to the class schedule, the first period started a bit late, and when I returned to the waiting room, all the other teachers were gathered around a desk talking. Yama-arashi had also arrived without me noticing. I thought he was absent, but he was actually late. As soon as he saw my face, he said, "Today, it's your fault that I'm late. Pay me a fine." I took out a one-sen five-rin coin from the desk and placed it in front of Yama-arashi, saying, "Take this as it covers the cost of the ice water we drank the other day in Tomo-cho." He smiled and said, "What are you talking about?" but when he saw that I was unexpectedly serious, he returned the coin to my desk, saying, "Don't make such a boring joke." I thought, "Oh, Yama-arashi is determined to be generous after all."

"I'm not joking, it's true. I have no reason to let you treat me to ice water, so I'm paying. Is there a reason not to take it?" I said. Yama-arashi looked at my face coldly and said, "Hmph." If it weren't for the request from the guy in the red shirt, I would have exposed Yama-arashi's cowardice and started a big fight here, but since I promised not to speak out, I couldn't move. How can there be a reason to say "hmph" when someone is this red-faced?

"I'll accept the cost of the ice water, so get out of the boarding house," Yama-arashi said. I replied, "It's fine as long as I receive one-sen five-rin. Whether I leave the boarding house or not is up to me." Then he continued, "However, it's not just up to you. Yesterday, the owner of that boarding house said he wanted you to leave, and when I asked for the reason, I thought what the owner said was quite reasonable. Still, I intended to confirm it, so I stopped by there this morning to hear the details."

I didn't understand what Yama-arashi meant. "There's no way for me to know what the owner told you. It wouldn't make sense to decide on your own. If there's a reason, it's only proper to explain it. Besides, saying that what the owner said was reasonable is incredibly rude," I said.

"Well, then I'll say it. You're rough and being neglected at that boarding house. No matter how much the landlady is, she's not a servant. To have her wipe your feet is too arrogant," said Yama-arashi. "When did I have the landlady wipe my feet?" I retorted. "I don't know if you had her wipe them or not, but anyway, they are troubled by you over there. They said that the boarding fee of ten or fifteen yen could be easily covered by selling just one piece of art," Yama-arashi continued.

"What a cocky guy you are. Then why did you leave it there?" I asked. "I don't know why it was left, but it was left. They probably want you to leave because they got tired of it. You should just go," Yama-arashi said. "Of course. Even if they put their hands together asking me to stay, I won't be there. It's outrageous for you to broker a deal in a place that makes such accusations," I said.

"Either I'm outrageous or you're not being docile, it's one or the other," Yama-arashi shouted back. The people in the waiting room were wondering what had started, and everyone was looking at me and Yama-arashi, with their jaws dropped in confusion. I didn't feel embarrassed about anything, so I stood up and looked around the room. Among everyone who was surprised, only Noda was laughing amusingly. When my big eyes shot a glare at Noda, as if to say, "Are you planning to fight too?", Noda suddenly put on a serious face and tightened up considerably. He seemed a bit scared. In the meantime, the trumpet sounded. Both Yama-arashi and I stopped the fight and went out to the classroom.

In the afternoon, there is a meeting about the punishment of the boarding student who was rude to me last night. This is my first time attending a meeting, so I have no idea what to expect, but the staff will gather to express their selfish opinions, and the principal will probably summarize them appropriately. To summarize means to say something about matters that are difficult to determine as black or white. Holding a meeting about an incident that anyone can see is simply inconvenient is just a waste of time. No matter how anyone interprets it, there should be no dissent. Such an obvious matter should be dealt with immediately by the principal. It shows a lack of decisiveness. If this is the case, the principal is nothing more than a wishy-washy fool.

The meeting room is a long, narrow room next to the principal's office, which usually serves as a dining hall. About twenty black leather chairs are lined up around a long table, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a Western restaurant in Kanda. The principal sits at one end of the table, with the red-shirted teacher next to him. The rest of us can take our seats freely, but it is said that the gymnastics teacher always sits modestly at the edge of the table. Not knowing the situation, I sat between the natural history teacher and the classical studies teacher. Looking over, I see Yamaarashi and No standing side by side. No's face is clearly inferior in every way. Even in a fight, Yamaarashi has far more charm. At my father's funeral, the hanging scroll in the parlor of Koyonaka's Yogenji looked very much like this face. When I asked the monk, he said it was a monster called Idaten. Today, he seems to be angry, rolling his eyes and occasionally looking my way. I refused to be intimidated by that, and I glared back at Yamaarashi with wide eyes. My eyes may not be shaped well, but in size, they usually don't lose to most people. Seiji often said, "You have big eyes, so you would surely look good as an actor."

"Is everyone mostly here now?" the principal said, and the secretary Kawamura began to count heads one by one. One person is missing. As I was thinking, I realized that the eggplant boy, Urana-kun, was not here. I don't know what kind of fateful connection there is between Urana-kun and me, but ever since I saw his face, I just can't forget him. When I go to the waiting room, Urana-kun immediately catches my eye, and even when I'm walking down the street, I think of Urana-sensei's demeanor. When we go to the hot springs, Urana-kun sometimes has a pale face and is puffed up in the bath. When I greet him, he bows his head in embarrassment, which makes me feel sorry for him. At school, there is no one as quiet as Urana-kun. He rarely smiles, but he also never says anything unnecessary. I know the word "junzi" from books, but I thought it was just a term in the dictionary and not something alive. However, after meeting Urana-kun, I was impressed that it is indeed a word with substance.

Since he is someone with such a deep connection, I immediately noticed that Urana-kun was missing as soon as I entered the conference room. To be honest, I had secretly aimed to sit next to this man. The principal said, "You will soon see," while unwrapping the purple cloth package in front of him and began to read something that looked like a konjac board. The man in the red shirt started polishing his amber pipe with a silk handkerchief. This man considers this a hobby. It seems fitting for the red shirt. The others were chatting with each other. Feeling idle, I continued to write something on the table with the rubber tip of my pencil. Noda occasionally spoke to the stormy boy, but the stormy boy completely ignored him. He only said "uh-huh" or "ah," and sometimes looked at me with a scary gaze. I glared back at him without losing.

At that moment, the long-awaited Ura-nari-kun entered with a look of pity and politely greeted the Tanuki, saying, "I had a little business, so I am late." "Well then, let's hold the meeting," said the Tanuki, first having the secretary Kawamura-kun distribute the konjac board. Looking at it, the first item was about disciplinary actions, the next was about student supervision, and there were two or three other clauses. As usual, the Tanuki spoke with great solemnity, under the pretext of the educational spirit, expressing something along these lines: "The faults of the school staff and students are all due to my own lack of virtue, and every time an incident occurs, I cannot help but secretly feel remorse, wondering how I can still serve as principal. Unfortunately, I must deeply apologize to all of you for causing such a disturbance once again this time. However, once something has happened, there is no helping it; we must somehow take action. The facts are already known to all of you, so please feel free to express your thoughts on the measures to be taken."

I listened to the principal's words and was impressed that the principal and the raccoon say such important things. If the principal is going to take responsibility for everything and say it is his fault or lack of virtue, it would be better for him to resign first instead of punishing the students. That way, there would be no need to hold such a troublesome meeting. First of all, it is common sense. While I am quietly on duty, the students are being unruly. The one at fault is neither the principal nor me, but solely the students. If the storm has incited them, it would be enough to deal with the students and the storm. It is a feat that only a raccoon could accomplish to take on someone else's burden and shout, "This is my burden, my burden." He spewed out such unreasonable arguments and proudly looked around at everyone. However, no one opened their mouth. The natural history teacher was gazing at a crow perched on the roof of the first classroom. The Chinese literature teacher was folding and stretching a konjac board. The storm was still glaring at my face. If a meeting is going to be this ridiculous, it would be better to skip it and take a nap.

I became frustrated, so I thought I would argue my case vigorously and half-raised my rear, but since the red shirt started saying something, I stopped. Looking over, he was putting away his pipe and wiping his face with a striped silk handkerchief while saying something. That handkerchief must have been taken from the Madonna. Men use white linen. “I have also heard about the rough behavior of the boarders, and I am deeply ashamed as the vice-principal for my negligence, and that the usual moral education has not reached the boys. Such incidents occur when there is some flaw, and when looking at the incident itself, it may seem that only the students are at fault, but upon examining the truth, the responsibility may actually lie with the school. Therefore, imposing strict sanctions based only on what appears on the surface may not be good for the future. Furthermore, boys are passionate and full of energy, without thoughts of right and wrong, and it is not impossible that they might engage in such mischief half-unconsciously. However, the method of punishment is up to the principal's discretion, so it is not my place to intervene, but I would like to ask you to consider this and to please make as generous arrangements as possible.”

Indeed, if the raccoon is a raccoon, then the red shirt is also a red shirt. The students making a fuss is not because the students are bad, but because the teachers are bad, as he openly declares. It is said that when a madman hits someone's head, it is because the person who was hit is at fault, and that is why the madman strikes. What a troublesome happiness this is. If being full of energy is a problem, they should go out to the playground and wrestle. It is unacceptable to unconsciously have a grasshopper placed in the floor. At this rate, even if they are attacked from behind, they will probably say they intend to forgive it by claiming it was unconscious.

I thought about this and considered saying something, but if I were to speak, it would be boring unless I expressed it in a way that would surprise people. As a habit, when I speak out of anger, I always end up at a loss for words after just two or three sentences. Whether it’s a raccoon or a red shirt, they may be inferior to me in character, but their eloquence is quite skilled, so it’s not amusing to say something clumsy and have them pick apart my words. As I tried to think of a little plan and was constructing sentences in my mind, I was startled when Noda, who was in front of me, suddenly stood up. It’s audacious for Noda to express an opinion. He said in that usual flippant tone, “Indeed, this recent grasshopper incident and the shouting incident are rare occurrences that should secretly raise concerns about the future of our school for us conscientious staff members, and at this time, we staff must earnestly reflect on ourselves and restore the discipline of the entire school. Therefore, the remarks made just now by the principal and vice-principal are truly insightful and precise thoughts, and I wholeheartedly agree with them. I hope for as lenient a disposition as possible,” he said. What Noda said had words, but no meaning. It was just a string of Chinese characters that made no sense. The only thing I understood was the phrase “I wholeheartedly agree.”

I do not understand the meaning of what Noda is saying, but for some reason, I was extremely angry, so I stood up before I could come up with a counterproposal. I said, "I am completely opposed..." but then I suddenly couldn't come up with anything else. When I added, "...I absolutely hate such ridiculous punishments," the staff all burst into laughter. "The students are entirely at fault. If we don't make them apologize, it will become a habit. I don't mind if we expel them... How rude, thinking I'm a new teacher..." I said and took my seat. Then, the person sitting to my right, Hakubutsu, weakly said, "While the students are at fault, if we impose too strict a punishment, it might backfire. As the vice principal said, I support a more lenient approach." The person to my left, Kangaku, agreed with the mild approach. The history teacher said he shared the same opinion as the vice principal. It's frustrating; most of them are from the Red Shirt Party. If such people are gathering to run the school, it's a disaster. I am determined to either make the students apologize or resign, so if the Red Shirts win, I was prepared to go home and pack my things immediately. After all, there is no way to subdue such a group with mere words, and even if I did manage to subdue them, how long would they want to maintain relations with me? I would rather not deal with that. If I'm not at the school, I don't care what happens. If I say anything else, I will surely be laughed at. I was pretending not to care about what anyone said.

Then, Yamaarashi, who had been silently listening until now, stood up with determination. Was he also expressing his support for the red shirt? I thought, since it's a fight with you anyway, do as you please, and then Yamaarashi said in a voice that seemed to shake the glass windows, "I completely disagree with the opinions of the vice-principal and others. This incident can only be recognized as the act of fifty boarding students trying to mock and toy with the new teacher. The vice-principal seems to seek the cause in the character of the teacher, but with all due respect, I believe that is a misstatement. The teacher was assigned to the night shift shortly after arriving, and it was still less than twenty days since he had interacted with the students. In this short twenty-day period, the students have no opportunity to evaluate your scholarship or character. If there is a reason to be despised and they were despised for that reason, there may be grounds to consider the students' actions, but I think it would affect the school's prestige to treat frivolous students who mock a new teacher without any cause with leniency. The spirit of education is not merely to impart knowledge, but to inspire noble and honest samurai-like vigor while simultaneously sweeping away vulgar, reckless, and arrogant bad influences. If we say something cowardly out of fear of backlash or escalating turmoil, we cannot know when this bad influence will be corrected. It is precisely to eradicate such bad influences that we serve in this school, so I believe it would be better not to become a teacher at all than to overlook this. For the reasons stated above, I believe it is appropriate to impose severe punishment on all boarding students and to have them publicly express their apology in front of the concerned teacher," he said, and then sat down heavily. Everyone remained silent and said nothing. The red shirt began to wipe his pipe again. I felt extremely happy for some reason. I was about to speak.It feels as if Yama-arashi has completely articulated what I was thinking. Being such a simple person, I forgot all about the previous quarrels and looked at Yama-arashi, who sat down with a face that seemed to express great difficulty, but Yama-arashi appeared completely unaware.

After a while, Yama-arashi stood up again. "I must mention that I forgot to say something just now. It seems that the night watchman went out to the hot springs during their duty, which I consider completely unacceptable. It is a significant blunder to take advantage of the fact that there is no one to reprimand while being responsible for the school's supervision and to go to a hot spring instead. I would like the principal to particularly remind the responsible parties about this matter regarding the students."

What a strange person. Just when I thought he was praising me, he immediately exposes someone else's mistake. I had no particular thoughts and simply knew that the previous watchman had left, thinking it was a common practice, and ended up going to the hot springs. Upon reflection, I certainly was in the wrong. I can't complain about being attacked. So I stood up and said, "I went to the hot springs during my duty. This is completely wrong. I apologize," and when I returned to my seat, everyone started laughing again. They laugh every time I say something. They are such boring people. Can you all openly admit to your own faults like this? You can't, which is why you are laughing.

After that, the principal said, "It seems that there are no more opinions, so let's decide on the punishment after careful consideration." As a result, the boarding student was given a week's suspension and apologized in front of me. If he hadn't apologized, he would have resigned and gone home on the spot, but since things went as I said, it ended up being quite a situation. I will talk about that later, but at this time, the principal declared that the meeting would continue and said, "The discipline of students must be corrected through the influence of teachers. As one means to that end, teachers should avoid frequenting places like restaurants as much as possible. Of course, it is special during farewell parties, but I would like to refrain from going alone to places that are not too fancy—such as soba shops or dango shops." As he began to say this, everyone laughed again. Although they exchanged glances, saying that it was like seeing a mountain storm and calling it tempura, the mountain storm did not respond. Serves them right.

Because I am not very bright, I don't really understand what the raccoon is saying, but if a middle school teacher cannot manage to go to soba shops or dango shops, then it would be impossible for a glutton like me. If that's the case, then it would be better to just hire someone who dislikes soba and dango from the beginning. Quietly lowering the appointment and issuing a decree that forbids eating soba and dango is a severe blow for someone like me who has no hobbies. Then, the red shirt chimed in again. "Originally, a middle school teacher should be a figure of the upper class in society, so they should not seek only material pleasures. If one indulges in that, it will inevitably have a negative impact on their character. However, as humans, without some form of entertainment, it is impossible to live in a rural area with limited space. Therefore, one must seek high-minded spiritual entertainment, such as going fishing, reading literary works, creating new-style poetry or haiku, or anything else..."

Listening in silence, they blow up with their own heat. Going out to sea to fish for fertilizer, Gorky being a Russian literary figure, a familiar geisha standing under a pine tree, and a frog jumping into an old pond are all forms of mental entertainment; eating tempura and swallowing dumplings is also mental entertainment. Rather than providing such trivial amusements, it would be better to do the laundry for the red shirt. I was so angry that I asked, "Is meeting Madonna also a form of mental entertainment?" This time, no one laughed. They exchanged strange looks at each other. The red shirt himself looked down in agony. See, it worked, didn’t it? The only unfortunate one was Urana-kun, who turned even paler when I said this.