O here
Will I set up my everlasting rest
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last.
Arms, take your last embrace!
-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act V Scene III [1]
A white light stabbed at his eyes.
It was blinding.
The light was overpowering.
The place overflowed with light, and glittered.
It was unmistakable―it was the world of No. 6.
"We never had a sovereign, at least I don't remember there being one. I've never even heard of the name before," Nezumi said.
"Naturally. I was the one who named her. Your people did not give her a name, but you did revere her. You revered her as you did the other trees, the sun, and the moon, and you feared her. Yes―you feared her. She had power. She had a power that neither we nor you had―probably a power no human could possess. That is why No. 6 desired her. They desired her power. Nezumi―your people knew everything about her power, and you feared and revered her. You never thought of using her as a device for your own prosperity. That is the difference between your people and us. However, I was not directly involved in that massacre. Nevertheless, I know that is no excuse."
Who am I? A man seeking happiness. I sought it in my lusts and did not find it. And all who live as I did fail to find it.
-Tolstoy, "Walk in the Light While There Is Light" [1]
When I was born, this planet was already in the midst of danger. Due to numerous wars, pollution, and environmental destruction, over half of the territory on earth had been devastated to the point of becoming inhabitable for human life.
Global warming had sparked a spread of whole new contagious diseases; weather patterns were abnormal and unpredictable; wars between nations and tribes were neverending; nuclear weapons were being used.
By the time we realized it, humankind had driven itself to the verge of extinction. We survivors only realized after being this close to the edge that we had to reflect on the foolishness of our actions.
Through me is the way into the woeful city;- Dante, The Divine Comedy Vol 1: The Inferno, Canto III [1]
through me is the way into eternal woe;
through me is the way among the lost people.
Justice moved my lofty maker:
the divine Power, the supreme Wisdom
and the primal Love made me.
Before me were no things created, unless eternal, and I eternal last.
Leave every hope, ye who enter!
It began suddenly. No one would have been able to predict it.
It began suddenly, and amidst the crowd that had gathered in the square. It began as when gas erupts after being compressed for a long time underground.
"Nezumi!" Nezumi collapsed into his outstretched arms. Shion felt the heat and weight of his body. A low groan trickled through Nezumi's fingers. It's the same. It's the same as last time.
They had been talking about parasite wasps in their basement dwelling. It was just when their conversation had moved from emergent viruses to the mystery behind the parasite wasps. Nezumi had suddenly collapsed.
They had been drinking hot water. Shion remembered how Nezumi's cup had slid out of his hand and bounced on a stack of books before rolling across the floor.
"Nezumi―relax. Can you hear me?" Shion knelt down, supporting the boy's body with his arms. If it was the same as last time, then there was no need to panic. Nezumi had recovered just fine last time. If this time was the same...
When people built the public office
wasn't the reason why
so it could take away their perils
and create a bright and peaceful world?
But the citizens suffer hardship, and the officials bloat with riches
On the vast earth, not a single one
of the citizens can voice their woe
So they take to their brushes, and entrust it to song.
-Chinese folksong [1]
This is me?
Why, why, why...
"Safu, are you awake? Good morning. How do you feel? Ah, I see all your cognitive senses have returned to normal. Splendid."
This is me?
No, this isn't me.
This isn't me.
Who did kill cock Robbin?
I, said the sparrow,
With my bow and arrow,
And I did kill cock Robbin.
Who did see him die?
I, said the fly,
With my little eye,
And I did see him die.
-Mother Goose [1]
"It's real," Inukashi whispered to the man's profile, with its thin and jutting chin. He dropped his voice into a hush to make himself sound as intimidating as possible.
Shion felt a gaze on him. His eyes met with Nezumi's. He felt like he was being wrapped in an elegant grey cloth. The core of his body pulsated. All the thoughts that had been swirling around in his head came to a full stop.
A moment of pleasure.
To know my deed, 'twere best not know myself.
Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!
-Macbeth Act II Scene II [1]
It can't be...
Shion stopped his feet, and blinked slowly. It was dark. Even when his eyes were accustomed to darkness, the gloom only reflected into his eyes as gloom, and was entirely painted black. And of course, there was no wind blowing.
Here, they were at the bottom of the earth.
His fingers touched something hard. The moment he noticed it, he felt himself being pulled up. When he fell face-forward, out of breath, he felt the same sensation of something hard on his cheek. It was also cold to the touch.
Is it... rock?
Cheep-cheep-cheep!
The lighthearted chirruping of little mice. He felt the small animals scurrying over his back. Cravat and the rest would often scurry across his back like this, in their bold demands for food or play.
My elder brother is a cannibal!
I'm brother to a cannibal.
Even though I'm to be the victim of cannibalism, I'm brother to a cannibal all the same!
-Lu Xun, Diary of a Madman[1]
Shi-o-n. She tried calling his name. Since being brought here, how many times had she called it? No matter how many times she did, her voice never reached him.
Someone was coming. The dogs lying down outside were now raising their voices in apprehension. But there was nothing to be agitated about. The barking of the dogs, both large and small, was not overly wrung in alarm or threat.
It was not an enemy. No stranger had wandered in; no thief had snuck in either. It was someone unwelcome, but of low risk.
Inukashi raised his face and quivered his nose. He caught the smell of alcohol. At the same time, a puppy with a torn right ear burst into the room. It yapped insistently, reporting who the visitor was. Inukashi gave a light wave of his hand to shut it up. See, dogs were great. You told them to shut up, and they did.
Then shall I speak of the two primal Spirits of existence, of whom the Very Holy thus spoke to the Evil One: neither our choices nor words nor acts, not our inner selves nor our souls agree. [1]
Geez, enough of you already.
Inukashi clicked his tongue, and put the coins he was counting back into the bag. It was his profit for the day, and it was a hefty sum.
A night had passed since the Hunt, and the West Block was still in the throes of confusion and anguish. Nobody knew how many had been killed, kidnapped, or had escaped, and no one had the energy or the means of finding out.
The singing stopped. Silence wrapped around them. Shion had closed his eyes without realizing. The silence seemed to gently urge him to lift his eyelids. He opened his eyes to see Nezumi still on one knee, about to take his hand off the man's face.
The man still had his eyes closed. His mouth was still stained with blood, but it was no longer twisted in agony.
I was in it up to my neck by the time I realized the way things were going. What could I do? . . . if I refused to obey I would be killed. Or I could commit suicide. On three different occasions I thought of resigning, but it was impossible.
-Wilhelm Keitel, The Nuremburg Interviews [1]
The darkness was stabbing at him. Into his retina, his eardrums, his skin, the darkness turned into needles that pricked at him viciously.
Good fortune, then,
To make me blest, or cursed'st among men!
- The Merchant of Venice Act II Scene I [1]
Shion.
She tried to call to him. But her voice would not come out. Her tongue would not move. Her arms and legs were heavy as if they had been bound in shackles, and she could not get them free. Shion didn't turn around. His back, clad in a white shirt, moved further and further away. Around them was darkness. An inky black darkness spread out all around. There was not even the smallest ray of light.
In the heavens, black clouds gathered
On the earth, blustering winds blew
For seven months and seven nights, the storm clouds covered the sky
For nine months and nine nights, violent gusts buffeted the land.
The waters of Yangtze swelled up to the top,
and river waters spread to every corner of the land.
- Chinese myth - Creation Story of the Lisu
Trans. Kimijima Hisako (Chikuma Shobo) [1]
"Ma'am, can I have some muffins, please?" Lili came bursting into the store.
"Huh?" She stopped abruptly, and blinked quizzically, still clenching the coins in her fist. Karan couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was.
"You're here again, Uncle?"
Yoming smiled wryly at his niece's frank attitude.
"Lili, I'm here to do my job. You understand, right?"
Adorable ladies, just as our pity is commended, so is our cruelty severely punished by divine justice. And in order to prove this to you, as well as to give you an incentive for banishing all cruelty from your hearts, I should like to tell you a story as delightful as it is full of pathos.
- Boccaccio, The Decameron [1]
He was walking amidst the blades of grass, in a hot and humid haze. He could see his own feet. They were very small. The grass grew high, and reached up to his shoulders.
He realized that he was almost buried in the mass of vigorous grasses because he was still very young. He looked up to see the cerulean sky, which was far and high up. The winds were quiet, and it was very hot.
The bluish-grey elevator doors were closing silently. The moment their edges met as they closed completely, Fura let out a deep sigh. The Security Bureau officials flanking him on both sides were as still as stone statues.
"Why..."
He knew it was useless to ask, but he couldn't bear to be silent.
"Why are you arresting me?"
Just as he thought, there was no reply. He posed a second question.
"Is this... the Correctional Facility?"
His knees were shaking so badly, he could barely keep standing. This morning, he had left the house as usual. His wife had seen him to the door, with their son in her arms.
Did you come to me
because I dropped off to sleep,
tormented by love?
If I had known I dreamed,
I would not have awakened.
- Ono no komachi [1]
"You should write a letter," Nezumi said, without looking up from his book.
"A letter―to my mother?"
"If you have other pen pals, them too."
"Will you deliver them?"
"He will." A small mouse was perched on Nezumi's knee, cleaning its whiskers.
