Ten (4/4)

by Natsume Sōseki

"No, I won't write the name of the school."

"Well, it's good that we didn't write the name of the school. If the name of the school were to come out, it would affect the honor of Bunmei Junior High."

"What will happen? Will I get expelled?"

"That's right."

"My father is a very strict person, and my mother is a stepmother, so if I get expelled, I will really be in trouble. Will I really get expelled?"

"That's why it's better not to do anything reckless."

"I didn't intend to, but I ended up doing it. Is there any way to avoid getting expelled?" Wukeimon-kun pleaded repeatedly in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry. Behind the sliding door, his wife and Yukie-san have been giggling since the beginning. The master continues to be pretentious, repeating, "That's right." It's quite amusing.

When I say something is interesting, there may be people who ask what is so interesting about it. That is a reasonable question. For both humans and animals, knowing oneself is an important matter throughout life. If one can know oneself, then humans should be regarded as more respectable beings than cats. At that time, I plan to stop writing such mischief because it seems pitiful. However, just as it is difficult to understand the height of one's own nose, it seems quite challenging to discover something about oneself, and perhaps that is why one ends up asking such questions even about the cats they usually disdain. Even if humans appear cheeky, there are parts of them that are somewhat lacking. While boasting of being the spirit of all things, they cannot grasp such a small fact. Moreover, seeing them remain unfazed makes one want to laugh a little. He is clamoring, carrying the spirit of all things, asking, "Where is my nose? Please tell me, tell me." Just when one thinks he might give up on being the spirit of all things, he cannot let go. If one can remain unfazed even in such blatant contradictions, it becomes charming. However, in place of charm, one must endure foolishness.

The reason I am enjoying the company of Takeuemon-kun, my master, his wife, and Yukie-chan here is not merely because external events are overlapping, creating a unique wave of influence. In reality, it is because the echoes of those events resonate differently in each person's heart.

First of all, the master is rather indifferent to this incident. No matter how noisy Mr. Takeuemon's father is, or how much his mother treats him like a stepchild, there is not much to be surprised about. There is no reason to be surprised. The fact that Mr. Takeuemon is expelled is vastly different from losing one's job. If nearly a thousand students were to be expelled all at once, the teachers might also struggle to make a living, but the fate of Mr. Takeuemon Koi is hardly related to the master's daily life. Where the connection is weak, sympathy naturally becomes thin as well. It is not a natural tendency to frown or sigh for a stranger. It is quite difficult to accept that humans are such deeply emotional and compassionate beings. After all, since we are born into this world, we only occasionally shed tears or put on a pitying face for the sake of social interaction. This can be described as a deceptive expression, and to be honest, it is quite a laborious art. Those who can skillfully perform this deception are called people with a strong artistic conscience and are highly valued in society. However, there is nothing more suspicious than a person who is valued. You will understand this as soon as you try it. In this regard, the master can be said to belong to the rather clumsy category. Because he is clumsy, he is not valued. Because he is not valued, he expresses his inner indifference openly without hiding it. The reason he keeps repeating "That's right" to Mr. Takeuemon lies here. Just because you are indifferent, you should never dislike a good person like the master. Indifference is the inherent nature of humans, and a person who does not try to hide that nature is an honest person. If you expect anything more than indifference at such times, you must say that you have overestimated humanity. In a world where even honesty is lacking, expecting anything beyond that isan unreasonable request that cannot be relied upon unless it is when the characters Shino and Komungo escape from Bakin's novels and move to the neighboring houses.

The master stops at this point and turns his gaze to the women laughing in the living room, seeming to enjoy themselves as they step beyond the master's coldness into the realm of the absurd. These women regard the incident involving Takeemon-kun's headache as a blessing akin to the gospel of Buddha. There is no reason, they simply feel grateful. If anything, they are grateful that Takeemon-kun is in trouble. Everyone, I would like you to ask the women, "Do you find it amusing to laugh at someone else's misfortune?" The person asked would likely call the one who posed the question a fool. If they don't call them a fool, they would think that such a question is an insult to the lady's character. It may be true that they feel insulted, but it is also true that they laugh at others' troubles. If that is the case, I will now demonstrate something that could be seen as an insult to character myself, so it is normal to refuse by saying, "Please don't say such things."

I am a thief. However, one must never say that it is immoral. If one were to say it is immoral, it would be akin to throwing mud on my face. It would be an insult to me. Women are quite clever and have logical reasoning. Once born as a human, one must be prepared to remain calm even when trampled, kicked, or scolded, and not only that, one must also be able to endure being spat upon, having excrement thrown at them, and being laughed at loudly. If one cannot do that, they cannot associate with such clever women.

Takeemon-kun seems to be greatly frightened by a tremendous mistake made from a slight misstep, but one might think it rude to laugh at him behind his back. However, that is a childishness not befitting his age, and since it is said that getting angry when someone is rude is a sign of being timid, if he does not want to be called that, it would be best for him to keep quiet.

Finally, let me introduce a little of what is in Takeuemon-kun's heart. He is the embodiment of worry. That great intellect is, just like Napoleon's, filled with ambition, but is actually overflowing with anxiety. Occasionally, his bulbous nose twitches, as the worry transmits to his facial nerves and reacts unconsciously. It is as if he has swallowed a large cannonball, holding an unbearable lump in his stomach, and for the past few days, he has been troubled about how to deal with it. Out of that sadness, especially since there is no source of discernment, he went to seek help from a teacher known as a supervisor. He ended up bowing his head at the house of an unpleasant person.

It seems he has completely forgotten about the times he teased his master at school or incited his classmates to trouble him. No matter how much he might tease or trouble him, he seems to believe that as long as someone is called a supervisor, they will surely worry about him. It is quite a simple-minded thing. The supervisor is not a position that the master willingly took on. It is something he reluctantly accepted by the principal's order, akin to the tall hat of Uncle Meitei. It is just a name. A name alone cannot do anything. If a name were useful in times of need, Yukie-san could arrange a marriage just by her name.

Lord Takeuemon not only is selfish, but also starts from the assumption that others must be kind to him. He probably never imagined he would be laughed at. Lord Takeuemon must have discovered a certain truth about humanity when he came to the supervisor's house. For this truth, he will surely become more and more of a true human in the future. He will become indifferent to others' worries and will laugh loudly when someone is in trouble. Thus, the world will be filled with the future Lord Takeuemon. It may also be filled with Kaneda-kun and Lady Kaneda. I sincerely hope that Lord Takeuemon becomes aware of himself and becomes a true human as soon as possible. Otherwise, no matter how much he worries, how much he regrets, or how earnest his heart is in turning to good, he will never achieve success like Kaneda-kun. No, society will soon expel you from the realm of humanity. It is not just a matter of being expelled from the Civilized Middle School.

As I was thinking of something interesting, the lattice door rattled open, and a face peeked halfway from the shadow of the entrance shoji.

“Sensei”

The master was repeating “That’s right” to Lord Takeuemon when he was called from the entrance, and when he looked over to see who it was, the face peeking halfway out from the shoji was indeed Kangetsu-kun. “Hey, come in,” he said, but remained seated.

“Is it a guest?” Kangetsu-kun asked, peeking his face halfway out.

“Don’t worry about anything, come on in,”

“Actually, I came to invite the teacher,”

“Where are you planning to go? Again to Akasaka? I can’t take that area anymore. Last time I was dragged around forcefully, and my legs felt like sticks,”

“Today is fine. How about going out for the first time in a while?”

“Where are we going? Well, come on in,”

“I was thinking of going to Ueno to hear the tiger's roar,”

“That sounds boring, so just come on in,”

Kangetsu-kun, thinking that the negotiations in the distance were not going well, took off his shoes and clumsily came up. He was wearing his usual gray trousers with a patch on the seat, but according to him, this was not due to the times or because he had a heavy rear; rather, he had recently started practicing cycling, which had caused relatively more friction in that area. The person, who was being noticed by his future wife, unaware of the love rival, lightly nodded to Buemon-kun and sat down close to the engawa.

“Isn’t it boring to hear a tiger’s roar?”

“Well, it’s not good now. I’m going to take a walk here and there and head to Ueno around eleven at night.”

“Oh really.”

“Then the old trees in the park will be incredibly dense.”

“That’s true, it might be a bit lonelier than during the day.”

“So, if I choose to walk in places where the trees are thick and where people don’t pass even during the day, before I know it, I will feel as if I have wandered into the mountains, forgetting that I live in the bustling city.”

“What good does that feeling do?”

“If I stand still for a while in that feeling, suddenly I will hear a tiger roar in the zoo.”

“Can it really roar that well?”

“Don’t worry, it will roar. That roar can be heard even during the day at the science university, so in the stillness of the midnight, with no one around, in a situation that feels eerie…”

“What do you mean by eerie?”

“Don’t say such things when it’s scary.”

“Is that so? It seems I don’t hear it much. And then?”

“Then the tiger will roar with such force that it shakes off all the leaves from the old cedar trees in Ueno. It’s incredible.”

“That would indeed be incredible.”

“What do you say, shall we go on an adventure? I think it will surely be delightful. I believe that one cannot say they have heard a tiger’s roar unless they hear it at midnight.”

“That’s true,” the master was indifferent to Buemon-kun’s plea, just as he was indifferent to Kangetsu-kun’s exploration.

Until this moment, Takeemon-kun, who had been silently listening to the story of the tiger with envy, seemed to recall his own situation at his master's "That's right," and asked again, "Sensei, I'm worried, what should I do?" Kangetsu-kun looked at this large head with a suspicious expression. I had my own thoughts, so I excused myself and went to the tea room.

In the tea room, the wife was giggling as she poured plenty of bancha into a cheap Kyoyaki tea bowl and placed it on an antimony tea tray,

“Yukie-san, please bring this out.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?” the wife asked, stopping her laughter with a slightly surprised look.

“For whatever reason,” Yukie-san said, suddenly making a face and dropping her gaze onto the Yomiuri Shimbun nearby. The wife began negotiations once more.

“Oh, what a strange person. It’s Kangetsu-san. It’s fine.”

“But I don’t want to,” she said, not taking her eyes off the Yomiuri Shimbun. At such a time, I couldn't read a single character, but if I didn't read, I would be mocked and probably start crying again.

“There’s nothing embarrassing about it,” the wife said this time, laughing as she deliberately pushed the tea bowl onto the Yomiuri Shimbun. Yukie-san exclaimed, “Oh, how mean!” and as she tried to pull the newspaper from under the tea bowl, it got caught on the tea tray, and the bancha flowed freely onto the newspaper and into the tatami seams. “See, look at that,” the wife said, and Yukie-san ran to the kitchen, probably intending to bring a cloth. I found this commotion somewhat amusing.

Unaware of this, Kangetsu-kun was talking about something strange in the tatami room.

“Sensei, you made it easier to put up the shoji, didn’t you? Who did it?”

“A woman did it. It’s well done, isn’t it?”

“Yes, quite skillfully. Did that young lady who sometimes comes here do it?”

“Yeah, she helped too. If she can put up shoji like this, she boasts that she qualifies to get married.”

"I see," said Kangetsu-kun while staring at the shoji.

"This side is flat, but the right edge has extra paper and is creating waves,"

"That spot is where it was just applied, and it's where the least experienced work was done,"

"I see, the technique is a bit lacking. That surface has an incredibly complex curve that can't be represented by ordinary functions," said the scholar, speaking in a difficult manner, to which the master replied with a casual, "That's true."

Seeing this situation, Takeuemon-kun, who felt there was no hope no matter how long he pleaded, suddenly pressed his great skull against the tatami, silently expressing his intention to part ways. The master asked, "Are you leaving?" Takeuemon-kun, looking dejected, dragged his Satsuma geta as he exited through the gate. Poor thing. If left abandoned, he might even write a poem on the cliff and jump into the Kegon Falls. Tracing it back, it all stemmed from the high-handedness and cheekiness of Kaneda's young lady. If Takeuemon-kun were to die, he could become a ghost and take revenge on the young lady. The world wouldn't be troubled at all if one or two such people disappeared. Kangetsu-kun should get someone more fitting for a young lady.

"Teacher, is that a student?"

"Yeah."

"That's a very big head. Can he study?"

"He can't do much for such a big head, but he sometimes asks strange questions. The other day he asked me to translate Columbus, and I was quite troubled,"

"It's probably because his head is too big that he asks such unnecessary questions. Teacher, what did you say?"

"Huh? What are you talking about? You translated it appropriately,"

"Even so, translating it is impressive,"

"Children won't trust you unless you translate everything for them,"

"You've become quite the politician, teacher. But from the looks of it now, you don't seem very energetic and don't appear to be troubling the teacher,"

"I'm a bit weak today. What a foolish guy."

"What happened? I just saw it a moment ago, and I felt really sorry. What happened overall?"

"It's foolish. He sent a love letter to Kaneda's daughter."

"Huh? That big-headed guy? The recent students are really something. I'm surprised."

"You must be worried too, but..."

"I'm not worried at all. On the contrary, it's interesting. No matter how many love letters arrive, it's fine."

"If you're at ease, that's good, but..."

"I don't mind at all; it doesn't bother me. But it's a bit surprising that that big-headed guy would write a love letter."

"You see, it was done as a joke. That girl is fashionable and cheeky, so we thought we'd tease her, and the three of us collaborated..."

"So the three of you sent one letter to Kaneda's daughter? That's even more strange. Isn't it like three people eating a full Western meal together?"

"However, there's a division of labor. One writes the text, one mails it, and one borrows the name. And the one who just came is the one who borrowed the name, but he's the most foolish. Moreover, he says he hasn't even seen Kaneda's daughter. How could he do something so reckless?"

"That's quite a recent achievement. It's a masterpiece. Isn't it amusing that that big-headed guy sends a letter to a woman?"

"I hope it doesn't turn into a terrible mistake."

"No matter what happens, it doesn't matter since it's Kaneda."

"But he might be someone you could receive from."

"It doesn't matter if I might receive it. I don't care about Kaneda."

"Even if you don't care..."

"Kaneda doesn't care either; it's fine."

"If that's the case, then fine, but the person suddenly felt guilty later and got scared, so he came to consult with me, feeling very embarrassed."

"Oh, so that's why he's looking so down. He seems like a timid child. Teacher, you must have said something to him, right?"

"He's most worried about whether he'll be expelled or not."

"Why would he be expelled?"

"Because I did such a bad, immoral thing."

"It's not so immoral. It's fine. Kaneda must be proud and surely boasting about it."

"No way."

"Anyway, it's pitiful. Even if it's wrong to do such a thing, worrying so much could kill a young man. That kid has a big head, but his features aren't that bad. His nose twitches cutely."

"You're saying quite a carefree thing."

"Well, this is the flow of the times. You're too old-fashioned, so you interpret everything too seriously."

"But isn't it foolish to send love letters carelessly to someone you don't know? That's lacking common sense."

"Pranks usually lack common sense. Save him. It will be a good deed. That kid will go to the Kegon Falls."

"That's true."

"Do that. There are bigger, more discerning monks who are doing worse pranks and pretending not to know. If you're going to expel such a kid, it's unfair not to banish those guys one by one."

"That's true too."

"So, how about going to Ueno to hear the tiger's roar?"

"A tiger?"

"Yes, let's go listen. Actually, I have to return to my country in a day or two, so I won't be able to accompany you anywhere for a while, which is why I came to definitely take a walk together today."

"I see, you're going back? Do you have some business?"

"Yes, I have some business to attend to. -- Anyway, let's go out."

"Alright, then let's go."

"Come on, let's go. I'll treat you to dinner today, and after that, exercising to Ueno will be just the right time." Since he kept urging, the host also got into the mood and went out together. Later, his wife and Yukie were laughing loudly without restraint.