The Restaurant of Many Orders (2) (2)

by Kenji Miyazawa

Two blue eyes were peeking out at them.

“Oh dear,” a trembling voice echoed.

“Oh dear,” the trembling continued.

The two of them burst into tears without thinking.

At that moment, behind the door, hushed voices could be heard.

“No, it’s no good. They’ve already noticed. It seems the salt wasn’t rubbed in.”

“Of course. The boss’s writing was bad. He wrote something foolish like, ‘There were so many demanding orders there, it was truly regrettable,’ at that spot.”

“It doesn’t matter either way. We won’t even get any bones anyway.”

“That’s true. But if they don’t come in here, that’s our responsibility.”

“Let’s call them, let’s call them. Hey, customers, please come in quickly. The plates are washed, and the greens have been thoroughly rubbed with salt. All that’s left is to combine you and the greens nicely and place them on a pure white plate. Please come in quickly.”

“Yes, come in, come in. Or do you dislike salad? In that case, shall we start a fire now and fry it for you? Anyway, please come in quickly.”

The two of them were so heartbroken that their faces looked like crumpled paper, and they trembled as they looked at each other, crying silently.

Inside, he is laughing "fufufu" and shouting again.

"Welcome, welcome. If you cry so much, your precious cream will run off, won't it? Yes, coming right up. I'll bring it to you right away. Come on, hurry up and come in."

"Hurry up and come in. The master has already put on his napkin, taken his knife, licked his lips, and is waiting for his guests."

The two cried and cried and cried, and then cried again.

At that moment, suddenly from behind them,

With a "Woof, woof, grrr," two dogs, like polar bears, burst through the door and into the room. The keyhole eyes instantly vanished, and the dogs growled and circled the room for a while, but then with another loud

"Woof!" they barked and lunged at the next door. The door clattered open, and the dogs were sucked out as if by an invisible force.

In the pitch darkness beyond that door,

a sound of "meow, squawk, purr" was heard, followed by a rustling sound.

The room vanished like smoke, and the two stood shivering in the grass.

They saw their jackets, shoes, wallets, and tie clips hanging from branches over there, or scattered at the base of roots over here. The wind blew through, the grass rustled, the leaves crinkled, and the trees groaned.

The dog whined and came back.

And from behind them,

they heard a voice shouting, "Masters, masters!"

The two suddenly regained their spirits,

and shouted, "Hey, hey, we're here, come quickly!"

A professional hunter wearing a straw hat came rustling through the grass.

At that, the two finally felt relieved.

They ate the dumplings the hunter brought, bought a pheasant for ten yen along the way, and returned to Tokyo.

However, the faces of the two, which had once turned into crumpled paper, never returned to their original state, even after returning to Tokyo or taking a hot bath.