Inside My Glass Doors by Natsume Soseki

Author:Natsume Soseki
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 0 8048 3312 5
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

21

MY MEMORIES of my house are generally of a rustic nature. They also include a touch of desolation and melancholy, to such an extent that the other day, when my only surviving brother reminded me of the time when our sisters used to go to the theatre, I was stupefied at the idea that there could have been a period when we had led such a dazzling life. I really thought I must be dreaming.

At that time all the theatres were concentrated in Saruwaka-cho. There were as yet no trams or rickshaws, and it was no trifling undertaking to proceed from below Takatanobaba to beyond the Kannon of Asakusa in the small hours. My sisters got up in the middle of the night to prepare. The road was not very safe, and they always took the precaution of getting a servant to accompany them.

They went down through the Tsukudo quarter, passing through Kakinoki-yokocho, reaching Ageba, with an inn on the riverbank, where my sisters went on a pleasure boat that had been reserved for them. I can imagine the impatient expectation with which they sailed slowly past the Armory and then past Ochanomizu before arriving at Yanagibashi. This, however, was not yet the end of their voyage. Those former days, when time did not count, were still more memorable.

The boat came out on to the Sumida, and continuing on its way passed beneath the Azuma Bridge and moored near the Yumei Restaurant at Imado. There my sisters disembarked, walking as far as the teahouse of the theatre, from where they were ushered into the auditorium. Finally they took their seats, which were reserved, as always, in the dress circle. It was the most convenient place from which to invite admiration of their faces, hairstyles and clothes: anybody with a fondness for showy ornaments fought to secure one of these seats.

In the interval the assistant of one of the actors went to see them and offered to take them to the boxes. Following this man, who wore a patterned crepe kimono and a hakama, my sisters then paid a visit to their favorite actors, who were called Tanosuke and Tossho, returning after these latter had autographed their fans with drawings. It was doubtless done to impress the crowd. And one had to be well off to enjoy this luxury.

They returned home by the same route. And they travelled to Ageba on the same boat. By way of precaution a servant went to meet them, bearing a lantern. They finally reached the house towards midnight. The expedition had thus occupied the whole of the time from one night to the next, and that is what it cost them to be able to go to the theatre....

When I heard of this lavish episode I wondered whether it had really taken place in my own family. One would have thought that it was the past life of some wealthy household in the centre of the city that was being related to me.

We were not a family of Samurais.

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