The 210th Day by Soseki Natsume

Author:Soseki, Natsume [Soseki, Natsume]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 0804833206
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2002-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter IV

* * *

"Hey," says Kei, turning round, "This is where we turn off to the left—and then at last we start our climb, don't we?"

"Is it here we turn off?"

"He told me that at the end of the road we would see the stone steps of the temple, and that we should turn to the left without going through the door."

"The old man at the udon restaurant?" Roku asks, incessantly rubbing his chest.

"That's the one"

"Do you think we can rely on what that old man says?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because there are so many occupations in this world and running an udon restaurant, in the first place, is a dubious one."

"It's a profession like any other. It deserves more respect than people who kill time by accumulating money and oppressing the poor!"

"It may be respectable, but it's not my style. But now that I have been forced to eat udon, it is no use complaining about it. Well, let's drop the subject; well turn off all the same."

"I can see the steps all right, but is that the temple? There is no pavilion."

"It must have been burnt down by the fire from Mount Aso. I told you. Look, the weather is becoming a little threatening."

"Come, come, don't be afraid, we have the blessing of Heaven."

"What for?"

"For everything, where there's a will, the blessing of Heaven is overflowing."

"You certainly have a nerve! First you call on the Austere Ones, then you join the Sect of the Heavenly Blessing. Next you'll be joining the Band of Heavenly Punishment13 and become a Mount Tsukuba fanatic."

"But I belonged to them in the tofu shop period. They ill treat the poor. A tofu seller is a human being too. What amazes me, is that it is in no way to their advantage to ill treat them; it's just their way of passing the time."

"When did that happen to you?"

"It doesn't matter when. Tyrants have been regarded as wicked since olden times, but the twentieth century is full of the tyrants of whom we are speaking. Furthermore—and this is really detestable—they have a thick veneer of civilization."

"Perhaps it would be better if there were only the veneer, without anything inside. After all, when one has too much money and is bored, one likes to play at being a tyrant. Give money to an idiot and he will usually want to become a tyrant. A virtuous prince like me is a poor man, and vile creatures of their kind only use money for the purpose of making others suffer. How hard life is! While we're about it, how would it be to put all those wretched creatures in a bag and toss them into the nether regions?"

"I'd throw it down—no doubt about that," says Kei, looking at the black curls of smoke and standing firmly on his two feet, shod in straw sandals.

"What vehemence! Are you sure everything is all right with you? Be careful you don't fall before you've thrown down the sackful of vile creatures!"

"The rumble is quite impressive.

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