paint half revealed the grain of the wood underneath, the captain rang the ship’s bell.… The Kamikaze-maru was under way.
Surrendering their bodies to the shuddering of the ancient engine, Yasuo and Chiyoko gazed back at Toba’s receding harbor. Yasuo very much wanted to drop a hint about how he had slipped off and bought himself a piece last night, but decided he had better not. If he had been a boy from an ordinary farming or fishing village, his experiencewith women would have been cause for boasting, but on strait-laced Uta-jima he had to keep his mouth tightly shut. Young as he was, he had already learned to play the hypocrite.
Chiyoko was betting with herself as to the instant when a sea gull would fly even higher than the steel tower of the cableway that ascended the mountain behind Toba station. This girl who, out of shyness, had never had any sort of adventures in Tokyo, had been hoping that when she returned to the island something wonderful would happen to her, something that would completely change her world.
Once the boat was well away from Toba harbor, it would be an easy matter for even the lowest-flying gulls to seem to rise higher than the receding steel tower. But right now the tower was still soaring high in the air. Chiyoko looked closely at the second-hand of her wrist watch, fastened with its red-leather strap.
“If a sea gull flies higher than that within the next thirty seconds, that’ll mean something wonderful really is waiting for me.”
Five seconds passed.… A sea gull that had come following alongside the boat suddenly flew high into the air, flapping its wings—and rose higher than the tower!
Afraid that the boy at her side might remark on her smile, Chiyoko broke her long silence:
“Is there any news on the island?”
The boat was passing Sakate Island to port. Yasuo’s cigarette had become so short it was burning his lips. He crushed the butt out on the deck and answered:
“Nothing in particular.… Oh, yes, the generator was broken down until ten days ago and the whole village was using lamps. But it’s fixed now.”
“Yes, my mother wrote me about that.”
“Oh, she did? Well, as for any more news …”
Yasuo narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sea, which was overflowing with the light of spring. The Coast Guard cutter Hiyodori-maru was passing them at a distance of about ten yards, sailing in the direction of Toba.
“… Oh, I forgot. Uncle Teru Miyata has brought his daughter back home. Her name’s Hatsue, and she’s a real beauty.”
“So?”
Chiyoko’s face had clouded at the word “beauty.” Just the word alone seemed an implied criticism of her own looks.
“I’m a great favorite of Uncle Teru’s, all right. And there’s my older brother to carry on our own family. So everybody in the village is saying I’m sure to be chosen for Hatsue’s husband and adopted into her family.”
Soon the Kamikaze-maru had brought Suga Island into view to starboard, and Toshi Island to port. No matter how calm the weather, once a boat passed beyond the protection of these two islands, high-running waves would always set the boat’s timbers to creaking. From this point on they saw numerous cormorants floating in the wave-troughs and, farther out to sea, the many rocks of Oki Shallows projecting up above the water.
Yasuo knitted his brows and averted his eyes from the sight of Oki Shallows, the reminder of Uta-jima’s one and only humiliation. Fishing rights in these shallows, where the blood of Uta-jima’s youth had been shed in ancient rivalries, had now been restored to Toshi Island.
Chiyoko and Yasuo got to their feet and, looking across the low wheelhouse, waited for the shape of an islandthat would soon appear in the ocean before them.…
As always, Uta-jima rose from the level of the sea shaped like some amorphous, mysterious helmet.
The boat tilted—and the helmet seemed to tilt with it.
A DAY OF REST from fishing seemed never to come.
Surrendering their bodies to the shuddering of the ancient engine, Yasuo and Chiyoko gazed back at Toba’s receding harbor. Yasuo very much wanted to drop a hint about how he had slipped off and bought himself a piece last night, but decided he had better not. If he had been a boy from an ordinary farming or fishing village, his experiencewith women would have been cause for boasting, but on strait-laced Uta-jima he had to keep his mouth tightly shut. Young as he was, he had already learned to play the hypocrite.
Chiyoko was betting with herself as to the instant when a sea gull would fly even higher than the steel tower of the cableway that ascended the mountain behind Toba station. This girl who, out of shyness, had never had any sort of adventures in Tokyo, had been hoping that when she returned to the island something wonderful would happen to her, something that would completely change her world.
Once the boat was well away from Toba harbor, it would be an easy matter for even the lowest-flying gulls to seem to rise higher than the receding steel tower. But right now the tower was still soaring high in the air. Chiyoko looked closely at the second-hand of her wrist watch, fastened with its red-leather strap.
“If a sea gull flies higher than that within the next thirty seconds, that’ll mean something wonderful really is waiting for me.”
Five seconds passed.… A sea gull that had come following alongside the boat suddenly flew high into the air, flapping its wings—and rose higher than the tower!
Afraid that the boy at her side might remark on her smile, Chiyoko broke her long silence:
“Is there any news on the island?”
The boat was passing Sakate Island to port. Yasuo’s cigarette had become so short it was burning his lips. He crushed the butt out on the deck and answered:
“Nothing in particular.… Oh, yes, the generator was broken down until ten days ago and the whole village was using lamps. But it’s fixed now.”
“Yes, my mother wrote me about that.”
“Oh, she did? Well, as for any more news …”
Yasuo narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sea, which was overflowing with the light of spring. The Coast Guard cutter Hiyodori-maru was passing them at a distance of about ten yards, sailing in the direction of Toba.
“… Oh, I forgot. Uncle Teru Miyata has brought his daughter back home. Her name’s Hatsue, and she’s a real beauty.”
“So?”
Chiyoko’s face had clouded at the word “beauty.” Just the word alone seemed an implied criticism of her own looks.
“I’m a great favorite of Uncle Teru’s, all right. And there’s my older brother to carry on our own family. So everybody in the village is saying I’m sure to be chosen for Hatsue’s husband and adopted into her family.”
Soon the Kamikaze-maru had brought Suga Island into view to starboard, and Toshi Island to port. No matter how calm the weather, once a boat passed beyond the protection of these two islands, high-running waves would always set the boat’s timbers to creaking. From this point on they saw numerous cormorants floating in the wave-troughs and, farther out to sea, the many rocks of Oki Shallows projecting up above the water.
Yasuo knitted his brows and averted his eyes from the sight of Oki Shallows, the reminder of Uta-jima’s one and only humiliation. Fishing rights in these shallows, where the blood of Uta-jima’s youth had been shed in ancient rivalries, had now been restored to Toshi Island.
Chiyoko and Yasuo got to their feet and, looking across the low wheelhouse, waited for the shape of an islandthat would soon appear in the ocean before them.…
As always, Uta-jima rose from the level of the sea shaped like some amorphous, mysterious helmet.
The boat tilted—and the helmet seemed to tilt with it.
A DAY OF REST from fishing seemed never to come.
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