How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino

Author:Genzaburo Yoshino [Yoshino, Gentaro]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473578234
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Katsuko, in a low voice, started to sing France’s national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”

Not long afterward, the four boys and Katsuko went out to the lawn, all warm from the sunlight, and were happily playing. Mizutani preferred art and music, and was not particularly good at sports, but Katsuko was a natural athlete, and she excelled at everything athletic. She was on the basketball and volleyball teams, in track she anchored the mixed sprint relay, and she held the record for high jump and long jump. Her favorites were the jumps, and actually, she was nursing hopes to join the Japanese women’s track team in the next Olympics. Because of that, their father had installed an official jumping arena for Katsuko at the edge of the lawn, with a top-notch runway attached. The whitewashed measurement rod with the meters marked off was the real thing, and the high-jump bar was regulation as well, so it was exactly the same as the arena at Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium and was a terrific thing. After Copper and his friends played catch, they did the triple jump and the long jump and the high jump, with Katsuko as instructor and coach.

When all was said and done, Copper and Kitami couldn’t hold their own against Katsuko. Copper tried with all his might and finally made it over the one-meter bar, but immediately Katsuko, still with both hands jammed in her pockets, cleared it with ease. They gradually raised the bar, and in the end, Katsuko was the only survivor. There was nothing for Copper and company to do but watch Katsuko’s good form as she jumped. In her yellow sweater and dark-blue pants, flipping over the bar and landing again on her feet, she was a wondrous figure.

When it came to the triple jump, Kitami showed terrific enthusiasm, saying “All right, now you’ll see a jump with some heroic spirit!” but of course, he was no match for Katsuko. Uragawa, too, just for today, was not even a little embarrassed by his utter lack of ability and jumped again and again. In the triple jump, you start by leaping as far as you can, and then you do a quick one-foot hop for the second jump, and at first Uragawa couldn’t do it at all. Katsuko coached him, patiently showing him any number of times how to do it. In the end, when Uragawa was finally able to do a proper jump, Copper, Kitami, Mizutani, and Katsuko all let out a huge cheer as if he had just set a new Olympic record.

Uragawa turned bright red but then beamed, unable to contain his happiness.

After they had played all the usual games, Uragawa suggested they try pole-pushing, a game in which each player took one end of a long stick and tried to push the other player back without letting go.

“I almost never lose that!” he blurted.

Mizutani quickly found a suitable bamboo stick. Copper went first and was easily pushed out of bounds by Uragawa.

Next was Mizutani’s turn, but slipping and sliding, he was no match for their friend either.

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