Кобо Абэ - The Ark Sakura

Was she seriously thinking of straddling that seat wearing nothing but a terry-cloth blanket? Impossible; too indecent. Surely she would put on some clothes first. Here, right in front of me, she would stand in her panties and step into the red artificial leather skirt; then, nude from the waist up, she would pass her arms through the sleeves of that T-shirt with the palm trees on the front. I could gaze at close range on her underarm stubble and the shape of her navel. Finally I too would be able to share a moment of casual intimacy with a woman. All because I had built the ark. Or was I only a pig to her — no one to be shy around?

The blanket arched through the air, landing on the chaise longue. Unfortunately, she was fully dressed, wearing both skirt and T-shirt. I’d half expected as much. Still, I couldn’t help feeling the wistful pang of a child deprived of a longed-for treat. After she was gone, the terry-cloth blanket remained where it had fallen, folded in half and twisted in a doughnut shape. the shape of eupcaccia dung. Falling on my knees, I buried my face in it, breathing its odor of moldy bread. That was the blanket’s odor, not hers.

The sound of urination, like an unsteady arc drawn with trembling hand. The sound of paper being torn. Then the roar of flushing: water and air engaged in mutual attack, plummeting simultaneously. I regretted my failure to ask her name. And who, I wondered, was the real cancer patient — him or her?

After a time, there came the sleepy, cheerful laughter of the men, evidently teasing her about something. With me not there, they seemed to feel liberated. I myself grew weary of my gloomy personality; and yet when I was alone I’d often managed to feel quite gay. Singing, laughing, acting out solo dramas with only the stone walls for audience. dancing with spidery nimbleness on wafers of stone. seldom bored or lonely.

“Captain,” called the voice of the insect dealer, still thick with drowsiness. “So you heard from them, did you?”

“Come on down, I’ll make some coffee.” The girl’s too-innocent voice continued, and at last I raised my face from the towel.

“Looks like we’d better be prepared to stay up all night,” said the shill with a yawn.

Doing what one wants to do, and refusing what one doesn’t want to do, seem alike, but are in fact utterly different. I didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes. Holding the converted gun, I sat on the third step. The girl was at the sink, measuring out ground coffee. The shill was seated on the john, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. The insect dealer was sitting up in his sleeping bag, waving a lighted cigarette over his head.

“This one puts me over my quota for the day,” he said. “Somehow I feel as if I’ve been dreaming a long dream.”

“I don’t know — however great the water pressure may be, could you really flush a human body down this hole?” The shill stared down between his legs. “It is a human body, I assume.”

“It must be.” She switched on the coffeepot and wiped her hands on the shill’s shirt.

“I did flush a dead cat down there once,” I said, and purposely held my hands wide apart, exaggerating its size. “One this big, a tortoiseshell. It just popped right down.”

“A human body isn’t the same as a cat. The head alone is huge.” The insect dealer inhaled deeply on his cigarette and blew the smoke out slowly through his nostrils, as if loath to part with it. “It can’t get through anyplace narrower than the head. That’s how they space the bars in animal cages, did you know that? By matching the spaces to the size of the animal’s head.”

“Stop it — how sickening!” The girl seemed genuinely angry. “Do you intend to go through with it?”

“Certainly not. That’s the last sort of thing I’d want to get mixed up with.”

“In that case, why didn’t you come out and say so before? You sound so wishy-washy that you end by giving them an excuse.”

“An excuse for what?” asked the shill.

“Well, Sengoku said that if the captain wouldn’t enter into negotiations, they’d storm the place.”

“Starting to talk tough, eh?” The insect dealer snuffed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe.

“They’ll come in here over my dead body,” I declared. “I don’t even want to talk to Inototsu. Let me make one thing clear: as long as I’m captain of this ship, he will never, ever, have boarding privileges. Even if I could fit the entire population of the world in here, I’d still keep him out in the cold. For me, survival means one thing: having him die.”

“I can appreciate how you feel. ” The insect dealer opened his eyeglass case and took out a pair of glasses. “. but how are you going to turn him back if he does come on board? Maybe you could if he was alone, but he’s apt to come with his entire entourage.”

“In other words, the captain’s stymied.” The shill took off one shoe and began to massage the arch of his foot. “Which means it’s our turn now. All we have to do is go to the bargaining table in his place.”

“That’s right.” The girl poured coffee into the cups. “After all, Inototsu is using that Sengoku person as his representative. There’s no reason why the captain should have to handle this in person. Come get your coffee.”

“He’s got his representative, you’ve got yours. What could be more fair?” The shill took his cup and without warning dealt the girl’s left cheek a sudden hard slap.

“Ow!” she screamed, raising a hand to her cheek. Then she held out her hands like a magician, and smiled. “Didn’t hurt a bit.”

“A little trick I learned.” The shill passed a cup to the insect dealer and nodded. “You fit the hollow of your hand perfectly against the curve of the cheek, and make the air explode. It makes a terrific noise, with practically no pain. Perfect for making it appear you’ve bad a falling-out with your companion, and confusing the other side. Works like a charm. What do you say, isn’t that quite a trick?”

“It is indeed. Thanks to you, I’m wide awake.” The insect dealer finished polishing his glasses and put them on, reseating himself on top of his sleeping bag. “If you agree, Captain, he and I will take over the negotiations. A charlatan and a shill — now there’s a combination for you.”

“One practices deception, and the other’s taken in by it. Perfect.” She held out a coffee cup and peered up at me through her lashes. Since I was above her, she could hardly do otherwise, but I deliberately chose to read a hidden meaning into her look. If the insect dealer and the shill went out together, she and I would be alone.

“Sure,” I said, “go ahead if you want. It’s okay with me.” I descended the steps and accepted a cup of coffee. The touch of her fingertips was like cold bean curd.

“But he’s no pushover,” I warned. “Logic doesn’t get through to him. Besides, you talk about ‘negotiations,’ but my position is non-negotiable.”

The girl gave me a swift wink. I broke off. Blowing on her coffee to cool it, she said:

“Now that you’re awake, Komono, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. That bug called the eupcaccia — it moves around in a circle with its head facing the sun, while feeding on its own eliminations, isn’t that right? So when it’s dark and it goes to sleep, it’s facing west. Right?”

“I suppose so,” answered the insect dealer without enthusiasm.

“Then that’s strange. What happens when it wakes up the next morning?”

“You’re asking me? Ask the captain. He bought one, he must know.”

“Actually I never gave it any thought,” I said, “but now that you mention it, it is strange.”