6. Galaxy Station

by Kenji Miyazawa

Giovanni stared at the weather vane pillar behind him, which had become a faint triangular marker, flickering like a firefly for a while. It gradually took on a clear shape and stood motionless. It stood straight and sharp in the field of the deep steel-blue sky, like a newly forged blue steel plate.

At that moment, a mysterious voice came from somewhere, repeating, "Galaxy Station, Galaxy Station." As the voice echoed, suddenly, everything in front of him brightened. It was as if the light of a hundred million firefly squids had simultaneously sunk into the sky like fossils, or as if diamond-like jewels had been scattered all at once. Giovanni rubbed his eyes repeatedly without thinking.

When he realized it, the small train he was on was rattling along. In fact, Giovanni was sitting in a compartment of the night light railway, lined with small yellow electric lights, looking out the window. Inside the compartment, blue velvet seats were arranged, and on the opposite gray varnished wall, two large brass buttons gleamed.

At that moment, he noticed a tall child in the seat ahead, wearing a jacket so black it looked wet, gazing out the window. The child's shoulders seemed familiar, and Giovanni was overcome with a desire to know who it was. Just as he instinctively leaned out the window, the child pulled their head back and looked at him.

It was Campanella. Just as Giovanni was about to say, "Campanella, have you been here all along?" Campanella said, "Everyone ran quite a bit, but they fell behind. Zanelli, too, ran quite a bit but couldn't catch up."

Giovanni thought, "Yes, we went out together just now," and said, "Shall we wait somewhere?" Then Campanella said, "Zanelli has already gone home. His father came to pick him up." His face was a little pale, and he looked somewhat distressed. Giovanni also felt a strange sensation, as if he had forgotten something, and fell silent.

However, Campanella regained his spirits while peering out the window and said with vigor, "Oh, darn it. I forgot my water bottle. I also forgot my sketchbook. But it's almost the Swan Station. I really love watching swans. Even if they're flying far away over the river, I'm sure I'll see them."

As he spoke, Campanella kept turning the round map and looking at it. On that map, a single railway line continued south and south along the left bank of the Milky Way, which was drawn in white. The beauty of the map lay in the stations, triangular markers, springs, and forests that were studded with beautiful blue, orange, and green lights on a盘 as black as night.

Giovanni felt as if he had seen that map somewhere before. "Where did you buy this map? It's made of obsidian."

"I got it at the Galaxy Station. Didn't you get one?" Campanella replied.

"Oh, did I pass through Galaxy Station? Where we are now, this must be it, right?" Giovanni pointed just north of the station mark that said Swan.

"That's right. Oh, I wonder if that riverbed is moonlit?" He looked in that direction and saw that on the pale blue glowing bank of the Milky Way, silver sky pampas grass swayed rustling in the wind, creating waves.

"It's not moonlight. It's the Milky Way, that's why it's shining," Giovanni said, so delighted he felt like jumping up. He tapped his feet, leaned out the window, and whistled a high, high tune about the stars, trying to discern the water of the Milky Way, but at first, he couldn't make it out clearly. However, as he looked more carefully, he saw that the beautiful water was clearer than glass or hydrogen, and occasionally, depending on his eyes, it would shimmer with fine purple waves or flash like a rainbow, flowing silently onward. Here and there in the field, phosphorescent triangulation markers stood beautifully. The distant ones were small, the near ones large; the distant ones were clearly orange and yellow, while the near ones were pale blue and slightly hazy, shining in various forms. Giovanni's heart pounded, and he shook his head. Then, the blue, orange, and colorful shining triangulation markers throughout the beautiful field shimmered and trembled as if taking a breath.

"I've completely arrived in the celestial field," Giovanni said.

"And this train isn't burning coal, is it?" Giovanni said, extending his left hand and looking forward out the window.

"It must be alcohol or electricity," Campanella replied.

Just then, as if in response to that answer, a rumbling sound like a cello came from the distant mist. "The train here doesn't run on steam or electricity. It moves simply because it's destined to move. The rattling sound is because you're used to trains that make noise."

"I've heard that voice many times somewhere," Giovanni said.

"I've heard it many times in the forest and by the river too," Campanella replied.

Rattling, rattling, rattling, the small and beautiful train continued to run endlessly through the wind of the swaying pampas grass in the sky, and through the water of the Milky Way and the pale blue glimmer of the triangulation points.

"Look, the gentian flowers are blooming. It's autumn already," Campanella said, pointing out the window.

Among the short grass growing at the edge of the tracks, vibrant purple gentian flowers bloomed, as if carved from moonstone.

"I'll jump off, pick that flower, and jump back on!" Giovanni said, his heart pounding.

"It's too late. It's gone so far back," Campanella said, and before he could finish, the next gentian flower passed by, shining brightly.

Then, one after another, many gentian flower cups with yellow bottoms passed before their eyes like a gushing rain. The row of triangular markers rose up, shining more and more brightly, like smoke, like fire.