Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

Nakata was bewildered. "In hot water if you talk about it?"

"A dangerous, nasty business, it is. I think you'd better write that cat off. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from this place. I don't want you to get in trouble. Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but just consider this warning my way of thanking you for the food." With this Okawa stood up, looked around, and disappeared into a thicket.

Nakata sighed, took out his thermos, and slowly sipped some tea. Okawa had said it was dangerous to be here, but Nakata couldn't imagine how. All he was doing was looking for a lost little cat. What could possibly be dangerous about that? Maybe it was that cat-catcher with the strange hat Kawamura told him about who's dangerous. But Nakata was a person, not a cat. So why should he be afraid of a cat-catcher?

But the world was full of many things Nakata couldn't hope to fathom, so he gave up thinking about it. With a brain like his, the only result he got from thinking too much was a headache. Nakata sipped the last drop of his tea, screwed the cap on the thermos, and placed it back inside his bag.

After Okawa disappeared into the thicket, no other cats showed up for a long time. Just butterflies, silently fluttering above the weeds. A flock of sparrows flew into the lot, scattered in various directions, regrouped, and winged away. Nakata dozed off a few times, coming awake with a start. He knew approximately what time it was by the position of the sun.

It was nearly evening when the dog showed up in front of him.

A huge, black dog suddenly appeared from out of the thicket, silently lumbering forward. From where Nakata sat, the beast looked more like a calf than a dog. It had long legs, short hair, bulging, steely muscles, ears as sharp as knife points, and no collar. Nakata didn't know much about breeds of dogs, but one glance told him this was the vicious variety, or at least one that could turn mean if it had to. The kind of dog the military used in its K-9 corps.

The dog's eyes were totally expressionless and the skin around its mouth turned up, exposing wicked-looking fangs. Its teeth had blood stuck to them, and slimy bits of meat matted around its mouth. Its bright red tongue flicked out between its teeth like a flame. The dog fixed its glare on Nakata and stood there, unmoving, without a sound, for a long time. Nakata was silent too. He didn't know how to speak to dogs-only cats. The dog's eyes were as glazed and lifeless as glass beads congealed from swamp water.

Nakata breathed quietly, shallowly, but he wasn't afraid. He had a pretty good idea he was face-to-face with a hostile, aggressive animal. (Why this was, he had no idea.) But he didn't carry this thought one step further and see himself in imminent peril. The concept of death was beyond his powers of imagination. And pain was something he wasn't aware of until he actually felt it. As an abstract concept pain didn't mean a thing. The upshot of this was he wasn't afraid, even with this monstrous dog staring him down. He was merely perplexed.

Stand up! the dog said.

Nakata gulped. The dog was talking! Not really talking, since its mouth wasn't moving-but communicating through some means other than speech.

Stand up and follow me! the dog commanded.

Nakata did as he was told, clambering to his feet. He considered saying hello to the dog, then thought better of it. Even if they were able to converse, he didn't think it would be of much use. Besides, he didn't feel like talking with the dog, much less giving it a name. No amount of time would turn it into a friend.

A thought crossed Nakata's mind: Maybe this dog has some connection with the Governor, who found out he was getting money for finding cats and was going to take away his sub city! Wouldn't surprise me at all, he thought, if the Governor had this K-9 kind of dog. And if that's what's going on, I'm in big trouble!

Once Nakata got to his feet, the dog slowly started to walk away. Nakata shouldered his bag and set off after him. The dog had a short tail and, below its base, two large balls.

The dog cut straight across the vacant lot and slipped out between the wooden fence. Nakata followed, and the dog never looked back. No doubt he could tell by the sound of his footsteps that Nakata was behind him. As they drew closer to the shopping district the streets grew more crowded, mostly with housewives out shopping. Eyes fixed straight ahead, the dog walked on, his whole bearing overpowering. When people spied this giant, violent-looking beast, they leaped aside, a couple of bicyclists even getting off and crossing over to the other side of the street to avoid facing him.

Walking behind this monstrous dog made Nakata feel that people were getting out of his way. Maybe they thought he was walking the dog, minus a leash. And indeed some people shot him reproachful looks. This made him sad. I'm not doing this because I want to, he wanted to explain to them. Nakata's being led by this dog, he wanted to say. Nakata's not a strong person, but a weak one.

He followed the dog quite a distance. They passed a number of intersections and emerged from the shopping district. The dog ignored traffic signals at crosswalks. The roads weren't so wide, and the cars weren't going fast, so it wasn't all that dangerous to cross on red. The drivers slammed on their brakes when they saw this huge animal in front of them. For his part, the dog bared his fangs, glared at the drivers, and sauntered defiantly across the street. The dog knew full well what the traffic lights meant, Nakata could sense, but was willfully ignoring them. This dog was used to getting his way.

Nakata no longer knew where they were. At one point they passed a residential area in Nakano Ward he was familiar with, but then they turned a corner and he was no longer in familiar territory. Nakata felt anxious. What was he going to do if he got lost and couldn't find his way back? For all he knew they might not even be in Nakano Ward anymore. He craned his neck, trying to spot familiar landmarks, but no such luck. This was a part of the city he'd never seen before.

Unconcerned, the dog kept walking, keeping a pace he knew Nakata could keep up with, head up, ears perked, balls swaying like a pendulum.

"Say, is this still Nakano Ward?" Nakata called out.

The dog didn't respond or look around.

"Do you work for the Governor?"

Again no response.

"Nakata's just looking for a lost cat. A small tortoiseshell cat named Goma."

Nothing.

This was getting him nowhere, and he gave up.

They came to a corner in a quiet residential area with big houses but no passersby, and the dog boldly strode through an open old-fashioned double gate set into an old-style stone wall surrounding one of the houses. A large car was parked in a carport-big and black just like the dog, and shiny. The front door of the house was open as well. The dog went right inside, without hesitating. Before stepping into the house, Nakata took off his old sneakers and lined them up neatly at the entrance, stuffed his hiking hat inside his bag, and brushed grass blades off his trousers. The dog stood there, waiting for Nakata to make himself presentable, then went down the polished wooden corridor, leading him to what looked like either a sitting room or a library.

The room was dark. The sun had almost set and the heavy curtain at the window facing the garden was drawn. No lights were on. Farther back in the room was a large desk, and it looked like someone was sitting beside it. Nakata knew he'd have to wait until his eyes adjusted to say for sure. A black silhouette floated there indistinctly, like a paper cutout. As Nakata entered the room the silhouette slowly turned. Whoever was there sat in a swivel chair and had turned around to face him. His duty done, the dog came to a halt, plopped down on the floor, and closed his eyes.