It rained this evening heavily, and the night was close and dark. About ten o’clock, on our return from one of the fashionable tea-houses we frequent, we arrived — Yves, Chrysanthème and I— at the familiar angle of the principal street, the turn where we must take leave of the lights and noises of the town, to climb up the dark steps and steep paths that lead to our dwelling1 at Diou-djen-dji.
But before beginning our ascent2, we must first buy lanterns from an old tradeswoman called Madame Tres-Propre, whose regular customers we are. It is amazing what a quantity of these paper lanterns we consume. They are invariably decorated in the same way, with painted nightmoths or bats; fastened to the ceiling at the farther end of the shop, they hang in enormous clusters, and the old woman, seeing us arrive, gets upon a table to take them down. Gray or red are our usual choice; Madame Tres-Propre knows our preferences and leaves the green or blue lanterns aside. But it is always hard work to unhook one, on account of the little short sticks by which they are held, and the strings3 with which they are tied getting entangled4 together. In an exaggerated pantomime, Madame Tres-Propre expresses her despair at wasting so much of our valuable time: oh! if it only depended on her personal efforts! but ah! the natural perversity6 of inanimate things which have no consideration for human dignity! With monkeyish antics, she even deems it her duty to threaten the lanterns and shake her fist at these inextricably tangled5 strings which have the presumption7 to delay us.
It is all very well, but we know this manoeuvre8 by heart; and if the old lady loses patience, so do we. Chrysanthème, who is half asleep, is seized with a fit of kitten-like yawning which she does not even trouble to hide behind her hand, and which appears to be endless. She pulls a very long face at the thought of the steep hill we must struggle up tonight through the pelting9 rain.
I have the same feeling, and am thoroughly10 annoyed. To what purpose do I clamber up every evening to that suburb, when it offers me no attractions whatever?
The rain increases; what are we to do? Outside, djins pass rapidly, calling out: “Take care!” splashing the foot-passengers and casting through the shower streams of light from their many-colored lanterns. Mousmes and elderly ladies pass, tucked up, muddy, laughing nevertheless under their paper umbrellas, exchanging greetings, clacking their wooden pattens on the stone pavement. The whole street is filled with the noise of the pattering feet and pattering rain.
As good luck will have it, at the same moment passes Number 415, our poor relative, who, seeing our distress11, stops and promises to help us out of our difficulty; as soon as he has deposited on the quay12 an Englishman he is conveying, he will come to our aid and bring all that is necessary to relieve us from our lamentable13 situation.
At last our lantern is unhooked, lighted, and paid for. There is another shop opposite, where we stop every evening; it is that of Madame L’Heure, the woman who sells waffles; we always buy a provision from her, to refresh us on the way. A very lively young woman is this pastry-cook, and most eager to make herself agreeable; she looks quite like a screen picture behind her piled-up cakes, ornamented14 with little posies. We will take shelter under her roof while we wait; and, to avoid the drops that fall heavily from the waterspouts, wedge ourselves tightly against her display of white and pink sweetmeats, so artistically15 spread out on fresh and delicate branches of cypress16.
Poor Number 415, what a providence17 he is to us! Already he reappears, most excellent cousin! ever smiling, ever running, while the water streams down his handsome bare legs; he brings us two umbrellas, borrowed from a China merchant, who is also a distant relative of ours. Like me, Yves has till now never consented to use such a thing, but he now accepts one because it is droll18: of paper, of course, with innumerable folds waxed and gummed, and the inevitable19 flight of storks20 forming a wreath around it.
Chrysanthème, yawning more and more in her kitten-like fashion, becomes coaxing21 in order to be helped along, and tries to take my arm.
“I beg you, mousme, this evening to take the arm of Yves-San; I am sure that will suit us all three.”
And there they go, she, tiny figure, hanging on to the big fellow, and so they climb up. I lead the way, carrying the lantern that lights our steps, whose flame I protect as well as I can under my fantastic umbrella. On each side of the road is heard the roaring torrent22 of stormy waters rolling down from the mountain-side. To-night the way seems long, difficult, and slippery; a succession of interminable flights of steps, gardens, and houses piled up one above another; waste lands, and trees which in the darkness shake their dripping foliage23 on our heads.
One would say that Nagasaki is ascending24 at the same time as ourselves; but yonder, and very far away, is a vapory mist which seems luminous25 against the blackness of the sky, and from the town rises a confused murmur26 of voices and laughter, and a rumbling27 of gongs.
The summer rain has not yet refreshed the atmosphere. On account of the stormy heat, the little suburban28 houses have been left open like sheds, and we can see all that is going on. Lamps burn perpetually before the altars dedicated29 to Buddha30 and to the souls of the ancestors; but all good Nipponese have already lain down to rest. Under the traditional tents of bluish-green gauze, we can see whole families stretched out in rows; they are either sleeping, or hunting the mosquitoes, or fanning themselves. Nipponese men and women, Nipponese babies too, lying side by side with their parents; each one, young or old, in his little dark-blue cotton nightdress, and with his little wooden block on which to rest the nape of his neck.
A few houses are open, where amusements are still going on; here and there, from the sombre gardens, the sound of a guitar reaches our ears, playing some dance which gives in its weird31 rhythm a strange impression of sadness.
Here is the well, surrounded by bamboos, where we are wont32 to make a nocturnal halt for Chrysanthème to take breath. Yves begs me to throw forward the red gleam of my lantern, in order to recognize the place, for it marks our halfway33 resting-place.
And at last, at last, here is our house! The door is closed, all is silent and dark. Our panels have been carefully shut by M. Sucre and Madame Prune34; the rain streams down the wood of our old black walls.
In such weather it is impossible to allow Yves to return down hill, and wander along the shore in quest of a sampan. No, he shall not return on board to-night; we will put him up in our house. His little room has indeed been already provided for in the conditions of our lease, and notwithstanding his discreet35 refusal, we immediately set to work to make it. Let us go in, take off our boots, shake ourselves like so many cats that have been out in a shower, and step up to our apartment.
In front of Buddha, the little lamps are burning; in the middle of the room, the night-blue gauze is stretched.
On entering, the first impression is favorable; our dwelling is pretty this evening; the late hour and deep silence give it an air of mystery. And then, in such weather, it is always pleasant to get home.
Come, let us at once prepare Yves’s room. Chrysanthème, quite elated at the prospect36 of having her big friend near her, sets to work with a good will; moreover, the task is easy; we have only to slip three or four paper panels in their grooves37, to make at once a separate room or compartment38 in the great box we live in. I had thought that these panels were entirely39 white; but no! on each is a group of two storks painted in gray tints40 in those inevitable attitudes consecrated41 by Japanese art: one bearing aloft its proud head and haughtily42 raising its leg, the other scratching itself. Oh, these storks! how tired one gets of them, at the end of a month spent in Japan!
Yves is now in bed and sleeping under our roof.
Sleep has come to him sooner than to me to-night; for somehow I fancy I had seen long glances exchanged between him and Chrysanthème.
I have left this little creature in his hands like a toy, and I begin to fear lest I should have caused some perturbation in his mind. I do not trouble my head about this little Japanese girl. But Yves — it would be decidedly wrong on his part, and would greatly diminish my faith in him.
We hear the rain falling on our old roof; the cicalas are mute; odors of wet earth reach us from the gardens and the mountain. I feel terribly dreary43 in this room to-night; the noise of the little pipe irritates me more than usual, and as Chrysanthème crouches44 in front of her smoking-box, I suddenly discover in her an air of low breeding, in the very worst sense of the word.
I should hate her, my mousme, if she were to entice45 Yves into committing a fault — a fault which I should perhaps never be able to forgive.
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1
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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2
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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3
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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4
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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7
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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8
manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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9
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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10
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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11
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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12
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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13
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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14
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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16
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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18
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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19
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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20
storks
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| n.鹳( stork的名词复数 ) | |
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21
coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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22
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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24
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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27
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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28
suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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29
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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30
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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31
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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32
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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33
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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34
prune
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| n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除 | |
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35
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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36
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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37
grooves
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| n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏 | |
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38
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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39
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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40
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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41
consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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42
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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43
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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44
crouches
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| n.蹲着的姿势( crouch的名词复数 )v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的第三人称单数 ) | |
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45
entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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