Grass For My Pillow by Saiichi Maruya

Author:Saiichi Maruya [Maruya, Saiichi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: 0231126581, Columbia University Press 2003
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

five

. . . So he passed the days, and outside the reg-

istry window the pomegranate tree with deep vermillion flowers bloomed, and it was now the season when Yoko would start nagging him about taking her away for a holiday this summer, and still he’d heard nothing. He started to rebuke himself for his foolishness in so easily believing a mere rumor, and began to forget the rumor itself. Then one morning, just two weeks before the summer vacation was due to begin, he had a phone call from Nishi asking him to meet him in the staff canteen, as there was something he urgently wanted to talk to him about. He told the chief clerk where he was going, who scowled because it was not customary for both assistants to be absent from the room at the same time, then made a large nod of assent; and Hamada went to the canteen. It was still not lunchtime and there were few people about, except some students arranging their notes or looking something up in them, and in the area partitioned off by screens for members of staff only, Nishi was sitting. When he saw Hamada he half stood up, waved his hand, and smiled.

A waitress came to their table, and Hamada ordered Coca-cola. Then the two talked about the coming summer, wondering if it was going to be hot-ter than usual or not, until Nishi lowered his voice and indicated he was going to get down to business, taking a slim magazine, the latest issue of Grass for My Pillow

[ . 184 . ]

Totality, out of his inside pocket, laying it in front of Hamada, and looking him straight in the eyes as he said,

“I was wondering if you’ve read the latest number of this maniac’s magazine. It’s only just arrived today.”

“No. Not yet. Not this number.”

It had in fact arrived by that morning’s mail, but he hadn’t looked at it yet, and didn’t feel all that much inclined to, either.

“It’s the article on page three.”

Hamada picked up Totality and read the article, which had a typically labored title: presumptuous attempt to influence staffing policy reflects grave concern over sad demise of founder spirit. The article itself, although not actually mentioning Hamada by name, pointed out that there was a man working as assistant clerk in this university (not a graduate—underlined) who had cravenly evaded conscription during the Greater Asian War, and it was now rumored that this cowardly draft resister was shortly to be appointed head of a clerical department, which only indicated most regrettably how far the university lately had departed from the spirit of its founder, and how tainted red it had become.

When Nishi saw that Hamada had finished reading, he opened his mouth to give a spiel about Hamada probably feeling a bit put out by it, though there was no need at all to take any notice of what that maniac said; and although most people thought Nishi was Hamada’s rival, in fact it

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