Кобо Абэ - The Ark Sakura

“You know what it is, don’t you?” I said. “My position. Anyway, never mind that. Would you please bring down the encyclopedia in the bookcase upstairs?”

“Just tell me what you want to know. I’ll look it up for you.”

“No — I want to pile it up and sit on it. My knee can’t hold me up much longer.”

“Five or six volumes enough? Seven would do it for sure, I guess,” he said, and trotted up the stairs.

The adjutant opened a large notepad and drew a line with a felt pen. He marked it off at regular intervals, adding numbers. “Excuse me, sir. Allow me to explain briefly the daily routine. Work ends at 0430 hours. Then showers and baths, then chorus.”

“Chorus means the martial songs,” stuck in Sengoku.

“That’s right. You know—‘Here we bide, hundreds of miles from home, in far-off Manchuria. ’ ”

“I don’t like it. Too jaded,” said the insect dealer, shaking his head.

“It’s a good song for quintessential castoffs,” said the shadow. “It expresses so well the heartfelt sadness of soldiers forced to die meaningless deaths.”

“It’s sad, all right — especially the part that goes: ‘My friend lies ’neath a stone in yonder empty field.’ ”

“Ah, but that’s not the line that gets to them the most. It’s ‘tears in my eyes.’ That’s the one place where they manage to sing in perfect unison.”

“Same difference.”

“At 0500 hours, everyone assembles in the mess hall.”

“Where’s that?”

“Starting today we’ll be using room number two, next door to here.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?” I expostulated. “Who the hell said you could do that? Who do you guys think you are, anyway?”

“But the construction squad has already started transporting food and materials.”

“Look, Komono,” I said. “Just because you’re the new head of the Broom Brigade doesn’t mean you can do things like that.”

“Is it out of the question?” asked the adjutant, and went on swiftly in a well-rehearsed tone. “Oh, well, we could always switch to room number three, above the lift; about eighty percent of the items have been moved that far already. All the men are anxious to join the search squad in looking for the junior high school girls as quickly as possible. It has a direct bearing on morale.”

“Captain, would you mind leaving this up to me?” said the insect dealer. “It seems to me that in the middle of a confusing situation, changing everything around is only going to compound the confusion. I’m doing my best to work things out to everybody’s satisfaction. ”

Having anticipated a more convincing argument in his old, flowing style, I felt vaguely disappointed. If this was how he stood up to the adjutant, I feared the worst. How had he managed to secure the position of commander in so short a time, anyway? If it was solely by virtue of having shot and killed Inototsu, then they were no better than a pack of monkeys. To push Komono any further might only be playing into the adjutant’s hands.

Just then the shill came down the stairs, carrying the encyclopedia volumes piled on his shoulder.

“Besides,” I said, “I’ll have you know the room next door isn’t room number two, anyway. It has a proper name — the work hold.”

“I beg your pardon.”

The girl and the shill together piled up the volumes catty-corner behind the toilet, adjusting them to the proper height. Sengoku held me under the arms, helping me to sit down without putting any additional strain on my knee. Once I had endured a pain rather like that of stretching a sprained muscle, I did feel more comfortable. A wreath of mist swirled lightly around inside my head, like drowsiness. In my knee and the arch of my foot, it was as if electrodes had been implanted, sending out electrical current in rhythmic pulses. Slowly, very slowly, the current was gaining in strength.

“It won’t be long now,” said the adjutant, crinkling his eyes; the wrinkles in the corners looked as if they’d been pasted on. His shadowy existence was gradually fleshing out, beginning steadily to fill its proper share of space.

“Drugs may ease the pain, but they won’t solve the problem,” I said.

“For now at least let’s ease the pain,” said the insect dealer, with a wave and a smile. “That encyclopedia was a clever idea. It must feel a little better anyway, with your weight off the leg.”

“If he suggests knocking me out with drugs and then cutting off the leg,” I said, looking first into the shill’s eyes and then into the girl’s, and finally resting my gaze on Sengoku, “I want you to protect me. Don’t let them lay a finger on me, do you hear?”

The insect dealer turned till he was facing me directly and said, “Captain, watch your manners, if you don’t mind. You’re going too far. Please be more discreet.”

“You’re responsible. What do you mean, the SDF was a disappointment? You seem to be enjoying yourself, all right, the way you snap out those commands. ”

“You know, it surprises even me. I’m not lying, either. (I only do that for pay.) It’s a fact: there’s all the difference in the world between getting orders and giving them. It’s like the difference between the steering wheel and the driver.”

“I want to see the sky,” said the girl, between sips of water over at the sink. Her voice was a monotone, like that of a child reading from a textbook.

“I still say that owning your own country is the greatest luxury there is. Excuse me, sir.” The adjutant’s pencil struck the third point on the line he had drawn on his notepad. “Breakfast begins with recitation of the Broom Brigade oath: ‘I pledge to sweep away all trash blocking the way ahead.’ This morning — at this time of year the sun must be about ready to come up; it must be morning by now — I’d like to include some time for silent prayer in memory of Commander Inototsu. Showing the proper courtesy toward the one you felled will go far in engaging the men’s trust. If possible, a eulogy from the captain would be—”

“Don’t make me laugh.” I snorted.

“Very well, I won’t insist. Excuse me.” He continued with his litany. “At 0545 hours, breakfast is over. Then there’s a fifteen-minute break. At 0600 hours, the trial begins. It’s divided into two parts, the first being mutual arraignment, which involves having Broom Brigade members submit anonymous written indictments of each other. Yes, I know what you’re going to say — but a certain amount of mutual distrust is like a shot in the arm, vital if the system is to operate smoothly. There is certainly no need to publicize all the reports; you and I can pigeonhole them if we want, Commander, or we can create our own—”

“You mean trump them up, don’t you?” said the shill accusingly from the top of the stairs, shooting off the words like paper airplanes.

“As you wish.”

“Depressing. These guys are all so depressing,” lamented Sengoku.

“Nonsense,” sniffed the adjutant. He sucked on a back tooth, stretching his jaws open as far as he could without opening his mouth. I suspected he had false teeth. “Let’s have no high-sounding talk. This method is being used all over — corporations, schools, everywhere. It’s called the ‘self-supervision system.’

“Well, shall we proceed to part two of the trial? This is by far the most important activity of the day. unless, of course, by this time the junior high school girls have been netted, in which case we may have to change plans. I’m afraid the brigade members are painting a rather lurid picture of what will follow in that case — something to the effect that they will divvy them up by lots on the spot. Extreme caution will be essential in handling the female brats, and in persuading the brigade members to exercise self-control. No one has to participate who doesn’t want to — although I for one am looking forward to it, and the captain might just find the information he’s looking for. First we’ll line them up and introduce them to the brigade, and then the four of us can conduct in-depth interviews in private. How does that sound?”