The Woman with the Flying Head and Other Stories by Kurahashi Yumiko

Author:Kurahashi Yumiko
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781317478300
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

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* The original poem composed by Fujiwara no Teika reads “Hana no ka no/ kasumeru tsuki ni/ akugarete/ yume mo sadakani/ mienu koro kana” (Shoku go shūi waka shū, 1326, 2 [Spring 2]: 130).—trans.

* The original poem composed by Princess Shikishi (or Shokushi) reads “Yume no uchi mo/ utsurou hana ni/ kaze fukeba/ shizugokoro naki/ haru no utatane” (Shoku kokin waka shū, 1265, 2 [Spring 2]: 147).—trans.

The Passage of Dreams

(Yume no kayoiji (1988))

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It was two months after her remarriage that Itsuko first dreamed of her late first husband. He looked quite fit as he always had, which was impossible for a dead person. Itsuko was overjoyed at the encounter, and yet it filled her with sadness as well. It was as if the bottom of her heart had been removed and sorrow oozed into every cell of her body. She realized that however healthy he might appear in that dream, she could never live with him again.

The scene that surrounded them seemed like one that could be found somewhere in Tokyo. Itsuko worried that she might look even more ghostly than her husband; her hair, blown by the breeze, was long on one side and short on the other, just as it had been when she was a schoolgirl. She was carrying her violin case, as usual. Mr. Minami, her dead husband, was walking a little ahead of her, the familiar-looking flute case in his hand. Perhaps they were going to dinner after a chamber music concert, thought Itsuko in her dream. In her dream, when she quickened her pace and caught up with him, she didn’t know what to say. Knowing that he was after all a ghost, she gave a sidelong glance at his face, which appeared to be made of the dark flesh of the dead.

The city also looked unearthly. Skyscrapers and airships seemed to sway, as if underwater. The other people in the crowd—yes, the streets were very crowded—were like strands of seaweed undulating in the water, looking two-di-mensional and insubstantial. She grew anxious and wanted to call out to her husband, when the water stirred wildly, the city collapsed, and she found herself awake.

In her dream the next night, Mr. Minami was on the television, performing with a jazz piano trio in a club. In the dream, Itsuko entered the TV with no difficulty and found herself already seated up front in the audience. Mr. Minami was playing a jazz version of “Toccata” from Pour le Piano by Debussy. The live music bubbled in Itsuko’s body— something that had not happened for a long time.

The two came together again that night, sleeping in the same bed and making love as they had done innumerable times. Though a sober cell remained in the corner of her brain and kept asking her in a whisper how she could do this with a dead man, Itsuko lost herself in the arms of her late husband. Her whole body was turned into a flute of flesh and played improvisationally; winds of music swirled through it.

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