Eight

by Natsume Sōseki

On the way back from fishing with the red shirt, I suddenly began to think about Yama-arashi. When I was told to leave the boarding house for not having any reason, I thought he was indeed a wicked man. However, in the meeting, he surprisingly spoke passionately about strict punishment for students, which made me tilt my head in confusion. When I heard from Hagino's grandmother that Yama-arashi negotiated with the red shirt for Urana-kun, I couldn't help but applaud. Given this situation, it seemed that the villain was not Yama-arashi, but rather the red shirt who was twisted, and a favorable suspicion began to seep into my mind.

Just then, I spotted the red shirt walking with Madonna along the bank of the Nosegawa River, and since then, I concluded that the red shirt was a suspicious character. I couldn't tell if he was a trickster, but at the very least, he was not a good man. He was a man whose front and back were different. A person must be straight like bamboo to be reliable. Straightforward things feel good even when they fight. A man who is gentle, kind, and noble like the red shirt, boasting about his amber pipe, cannot be trusted. I thought he would rarely get into fights. Even if he did, it wouldn't be a pleasant fight like the sumo at Ekōin.

In that case, Yama-arashi, who surprised the entire control room with a mere one sen and five rin, was far more human. During the meeting, when he glared at me with his bulging eyes, I thought he was a detestable fellow, but upon reflection, that was still better than the red shirt's sticky cat-like voice. In fact, after that meeting, I thought about trying to make amends and spoke to him, but the guy didn't even respond and just stared at me with wide eyes, which made me angry, so I left it as it was.

Since then, Yama-arashi has stopped speaking to me. The one sen and five rin that I returned to the desk is still covered in dust. Of course, I cannot touch it, and Yama-arashi will never take it home. This one sen and five rin has become a wall between us, and even though I want to talk, I cannot, and Yama-arashi stubbornly remains silent. The one sen and five rin has cursed both Yama-arashi and me. In the end, it became painful to see the one sen and five rin at school.

While Yama-arashi and I had cut ties, I continued to maintain my previous relationship with Akashirt and kept socializing with him. The day after we met at Nosegawa, when I went to school, he first came to my side and said, "Hey, how's your new boarding house? Let's go fishing for Russian literature together again." I found him somewhat annoying, so I replied, "We met twice last night," to which he responded, "Yes, at the station—do you always go out at that time? Isn't it late?" When I mentioned that we also met at the bank of Nosegawa, he answered, "No, I didn't go over there; I took a bath and went straight home." There was no need to hide that much, considering we had actually met. He is a man who lies a lot. If he can manage to be the vice-principal of a middle school, then I could be the president of a university. From this point on, I began to trust Akashirt less and less. I talk to the untrustworthy Akashirt, but do not talk to the impressive Yama-arashi. The world is quite strange.

One day, Akashirt said, "I have something to talk to you about, so please come to my house," and although I felt it was a pity, I skipped the trip to the hot springs and went out around four o'clock. Akashirt lives alone, but he had long since vacated his boarding house as the vice-principal and has a splendid entrance. The rent is said to be nine yen and fifty sen. If I could pay nine yen and fifty sen in the countryside and get such a house, I thought I might splurge a bit and invite Kiyo from Tokyo to make him happy, it was that splendid of an entrance. When I asked, Akashirt's younger brother came out to relay the message. This younger brother is a very poor student who teaches me algebra and arithmetic at school. Despite that, being a wanderer, he is worse than a born-and-bred country boy.

When I met Akashirt and asked about the matter, the general, while puffing on his suspicious-smelling tobacco with his usual amber pipe, said, "Since you came, the results have improved more than during the previous principal's era, and the principal is very pleased—so please study with that in mind, as you are trusted at school."

“Oh, is that so? I can’t study better than now, though—”

“What you are doing now is sufficient. Just remember what we talked about the other day; that is all you need to do.”

“Are you saying that taking care of the boarding house is dangerous?”

“If I say it so bluntly, it would become meaningless, but—well, it’s fine—I think you understand it well. If you continue to put in effort like you are now, the school is watching closely, and if things go well in a little while, I think we can arrange something regarding your treatment.”

“Oh, salary, is it? I don’t really care about salary, but it would be better if it goes up.”

“Fortunately, there will be a transfer this time—though I can’t promise anything without consulting the principal—there might be some flexibility with that salary, so I think I’ll talk to the principal to arrange something.”

“That sounds difficult. Who is transferring?”

"It's about to be announced, so it shouldn't be a problem to talk about it. Actually, it's Koga-kun."

"But Koga-san is not from here, right?"

"He is from this area, but there are some circumstances—half of it is his own wish."

"Where is he going?"

"To Nobeoka in Hyuga—since it's a special place, his salary will be raised."

"Is someone coming to replace him?"

"A replacement is mostly decided. Depending on the replacement, your treatment can also be adjusted."

"I see, that's fine. However, there's no need to force an increase."

"In any case, I intend to talk to the principal. It seems the principal agrees, but it might mean that you'll have to work harder from now on, so I hope you can prepare yourself for that."

"Will the time increase compared to now?"

"No, the time might actually decrease compared to now—but—"

"Time decreases, and I have to work more? That's strange."

"It sounds strange at first, but—it's hard to say clearly right now—but basically, it means you might have to take on more significant responsibilities."

I couldn't understand it at all. If it meant more significant responsibilities than now, it would be the head of mathematics, but that head was like a storm and showed no signs of resigning. He was also trusted by the students, so transferring or dismissing him wouldn't be a wise move for the school. The talk with Akashirt was always vague, but even if it was vague, the matter was settled. After chatting a bit, Akashirt talked about holding a farewell party for Ura-nari-kun, whether I drink alcohol, and that Ura-nari-sensei is a noble and lovable person, among other things. In the end, he asked, "Do you do haiku?" so I thought this was serious and said, "I don't do haiku, goodbye," and quickly returned home. Haiku is something done by Basho or the master of a hairdressing shop; there's no way a mathematics teacher would be caught up in morning glories or water buckets.

After returning home, I thought deeply. There are truly incomprehensible men in this world. Just because one becomes tired of their hometown, which lacks nothing in terms of home, land, and the school they work at, they seek hardship in an unfamiliar foreign country. It would be one thing if it were a place where the trains of the flower city run, but what on earth is Nobeoka in Hyuga? Even coming to this nice harbor, I wanted to go home within a month. Speaking of Nobeoka, it is deep in the mountains, really deep in the mountains. According to the man in the red shirt, after getting off the boat, one must ride in a carriage for a day to reach Miyazaki, and from Miyazaki, one must ride in a car for another day to arrive. Just hearing the name, it doesn't seem like an open place at all. It feels like monkeys and humans live in equal measure. No matter how much of a saint one might be, they wouldn't want to willingly deal with monkeys; what a strange situation this is.

At that moment, the old woman brought in dinner as usual. When I asked if it was sweet potatoes again today, she replied, "No, today it's tofu." Either way, it's something similar.

“Grandma, I hear Mr. Koga is going to Hyuga.”

“That's really unfortunate, isn't it?”

“If he wants to go, then there's nothing that can be done about it.”

“Wants to go? Who would want that?”

“Who would want that? The person himself. Isn't Mr. Koga going to that strange place?”

“Well, that's a completely different story.”

“Is it really? But the man in the red shirt just said that. If that's Kanga, then the man in the red shirt is a liar and a braggart.”

“What you say is quite reasonable, but it is also reasonable that Mr. Koga is not going.”

“Then both sides are reasonable, aren't they? Grandma, you are fair and good. What on earth is the reason?”

“This morning, Mr. Koga's mother came and gradually explained the reason.”

“What kind of reason did she explain?”

“Since my father passed away, our living conditions have not improved as much as we thought, so my mother asked the principal, who has been working for four years now, to please increase the amount we receive a little more each month.”

“I see.”

“The principal said he would think about it. So my mother felt relieved, waiting eagerly for the announcement of an increase in salary, either this month or next month. Then the principal asked Koga to come see him, and when he went, he said it was unfortunate, but the school didn’t have enough money, so they couldn’t raise the salary. However, in Nobeoka, there was an opening, and since they could get an extra five yen there every month, he thought it would be fine to proceed with that arrangement.”

“So, it’s not a consultation, it’s an order, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. Koga said he would prefer to stay here, even if it meant keeping his original salary, because there is a house and his mother is here. However, after making such a determination, the principal said it couldn’t be helped since they had already found a replacement for Koga.”

“It’s ridiculous to mock someone like that; it’s not even funny. So Koga has no intention of going, huh? No wonder it seemed strange. Even if the salary goes up by five yen, there aren’t many fools who would go to such a mountain to deal with monkeys.”

“Fool? You mean the teacher?”

“It doesn’t matter, really—it's truly the scheme of the red shirt. It’s a bad treatment. It’s all a deception. So how could there be any inconvenience in raising my salary? Even if they say they’ll raise it, who would actually do it?”

“Do you think the teacher’s salary will go up?”

“Since they say they’ll raise it, I’m thinking of refusing.”

“Why would you refuse?”

"I refuse to do anything. Old lady, that red shirt is a fool. He's cowardly."

"Even if he's cowardly, if you can get your salary raised, it would be better to accept it quietly. When you're young, it's easy to get angry, but when you think about it as you get older, it's a shame to realize that you could have endured a little more. It's natural to regret the loss caused by getting angry, but if the red shirt says he will raise your salary, you should gratefully accept it."

"You old hag, you don't need to meddle unnecessarily. Whether my salary goes up or down, it's still my salary."

The old woman fell silent and withdrew. The old man was singing a song in a carefree voice. The song seems to be something that, while understandable when read, is deliberately made incomprehensible with difficult melodies. I can't understand how the old man can drone on about such things every night without getting bored. I'm not in the mood for songs. Since he said he would raise my salary, I didn't particularly want it, but I thought it would be a waste to leave money that wouldn't come in, so I agreed. However, how can someone force a person who doesn't want to be transferred to be transferred and take a cut of that man's salary? The person himself is fine as he is, so what kind of reasoning is it to drop him down to Nobeoka? Even Dazai no Gonchū settled around Hakata. Kawai Matagorō is also staying in Sagara, isn't he? In any case, I can't rest until I go to the red shirt and refuse."

I decided to put on my Ogura-style hakama and go out again. Standing in front of the large entrance, I was about to make a request when that younger brother appeared again. When he saw my face, he gave me a look that seemed to say, "You're back again." If I have business, I intend to come back two or three times. Even in the middle of the night, I might wake him up. I wonder if I am being seen as someone who has come to curry favor with the vice principal. Even so, I came back because I haven't received my monthly salary. Then the younger brother said that there were guests at the moment. When I asked if I could just see him for a moment at the entrance, I was pulled inside.

Looking down at my feet, I saw a pair of thin tatami-soled geta. From inside, I could hear voices shouting "Banzai!" I realized the guests were from the countryside. If they weren't from the countryside, they wouldn't be making such a high-pitched noise or wearing such comical geta.

After a while, a man in a red shirt came to the entrance holding a lamp. "Well, come on in. It's Yoshikawa-kun, not an outsider," he said. I replied, "No, this is fine. I just need to talk for a bit," and when I looked at the face of the man in the red shirt, he resembled Kintoki. It seemed he was having a drink with the guests from the countryside.

When I said, "Earlier, you mentioned that you would raise my monthly salary, but I've changed my mind a bit and came to decline," the man in the red shirt brought the lamp closer and stared at my face from deeper inside. He seemed troubled by my sudden statement. Perhaps he was surprised that there was even one person in the world who would refuse a salary increase, or maybe he was dumbfounded that I had just returned and now needed to come back again, or perhaps it was both; he stood there with a strange expression.

"At that time, what I agreed to was that Koga-kun would transfer at his own request..."

"Koga-kun is really transferring partly at his own request."

"That's not true. I want to stay here. Even if it's the original salary, I want to be in my hometown."

"Did you hear that from Koga-kun?"

"No, I haven't heard it from him directly."

"Then, who did you hear it from?"

"My landlady told me today what she heard from Koga's mother."

"So, the landlady said that, did she?"

"Well, yes."

"That may be true, but it seems a bit rude to say so. It sounds like you're saying you believe what the landlady says, but not what the vice principal says. Is it okay to interpret it that way?"

I was a bit troubled. A Bachelor of Arts is indeed a respectable thing. It clings to strange points and presses in persistently. My father often said, "You're too careless and useless," and it seems I am indeed a bit careless. I heard the landlady's story and suddenly thought of something, but in reality, I hadn't met Ura-nari-kun or his mother to hear the detailed circumstances. Therefore, when confronted in a Bachelor of Arts manner, it was a bit hard to take in.

It was hard to take in directly, but I had already internally declared my distrust of Akashirt. The landlady must also be a stingy and greedy person, but she is not a liar. Unlike Akashirt, she has no two-facedness. So, I had no choice but to respond this way.

"What you say may be true, but—anyway, I refuse the raise."

"That's even more amusing. It sounded like you came out specifically because you found a reason that made it difficult to accept a raise, but despite that reason being removed by my explanation, it's hard to understand why you deny the raise."

"It may be hard to understand, but I refuse."

"If you're going to deny it so strongly, I won't force you, but changing your mind in two or three hours without any special reason will affect your credibility in the future."

"I don't mind if it does."

"That shouldn't be the case. There is nothing more important than credibility for a human being. Even if I were to concede a little now, if the landlady..."

"It's not the owner, it's the landlady."

"It doesn't matter either way. Even if we take what the landlady said as fact, your raise is not something gained by cutting Koga's income. Koga is going to Nobeoka. A replacement will come. That replacement will come at a slightly lower salary than Koga. Because of that surplus, they will allocate it to you, so you shouldn't feel sorry for anyone. Koga will advance in Nobeoka more than now. The new appointee will come at a lower rate as per the initial agreement. If you rise because of that, I think it couldn't be more convenient. If you don't like it, that's fine too, but why not think about it carefully one more time at our place?"

My mind isn't very sharp, so usually, when someone presents such clever rhetoric, I would think, "Oh, is that so? Then I must have been mistaken," and back down. But tonight, it’s different. From the moment I arrived, I found the red shirt somewhat off-putting. There were times I thought he was a kind man, but now it seems he is neither kind nor anything else, and I have grown quite a dislike for him. Therefore, no matter how logically he tries to argue or how grandly he attempts to corner me in the style of a proud vice principal, it doesn’t matter to me. Just because someone is good at debate doesn’t mean they are a good person. Being cornered doesn’t necessarily mean one is a bad person. On the surface, the red shirt seems more plausible, but no matter how impressive the surface is, it cannot make someone fall in love with it deep down. If someone can buy a human heart with money, power, or logic, then whether they are a loan shark, a police officer, or a university professor, they must be the least liked by people. How could my heart be swayed by the reasoning of a middle school vice principal? Humans operate based on likes and dislikes. They do not operate based on logic.

"What you say makes sense, but I've grown tired of the raise, so I'll decline. It's the same thing even if I think about it. Goodbye," I said dismissively as I left through the gate. Above my head, there was a single streak of the Milky Way.