All around it was starting to become dark. Nighthawk flew out from his nest. The clouds shone meanly in the sky, hanging down low. Nighthawk flew around in silence, almost brushing up against the cloud.
He then opened his mouth, straightened his wings, and cut across the sky like an arrow. Dozens of small winged insects, one after the other, flew straight down his throat.
Just when he looked as if he would hit the ground, he quickly rose back up into the air with great agility. The clouds were now gray, and the fire burning on the distant mountain was a vivid red.
When Nighthawk flies at full speed, the sky is split in two. A rhinoceros beetle went down Nighthawk's throat and put up a terrific struggle. Nighthawk quickly swallowed it down, but as he did so, he felt a shudder go down his spine.
The pitch black clouds made for a frightening scene, the only light coming from the red glow of the fire in the east. With a heavy heart, Nighthawk flew once more up into the sky.
Nighthawk swallowed another rhinoceros beetle. This one felt as if it were clawing at the inside of his throat. He forced it down, but suddenly he was overcome by a dreadful feeling inside, and he let out a scream and began to cry. He continued crying as he circled the sky, around and around and around.
Ahhh...every night, all those rhinoceros beetles and insects are killed by me. And now the only one of me, is going to be killed by Hawk. It's so painful. It hurts, it really hurts. I won't eat any more insects and I'll starve myself to death. No, I'll be killed by Hawk before I starve. No, before that happens, I'm going to fly far, far away to a different sky.
The fire was slowly flowing down the mountain side like water, and even the clouds looked as if they were on fire.
Nighthawk flew straight to his younger brother Kingfisher. Beautiful Kingfisher had just woken and had come out to look at the fire far off on the mountain. As he saw Nighthawk come in to land, he said,
"Good evening, brother. Is something wrong?
"No, but I'm about to fly off somewhere far away, so I wanted to visit you before I leave."
"Brother. You can't go. Hummingbird is already living so far away, and I'll be left here all on my own."
"I know, but there's nothing I can do. Please don't say anything more. And one more thing, apart from when you really have to, please don't catch fish just for fun. Alright, good bye."
"Brother. What's wrong? Please, wait just a little longer."
"No, it doesn't matter how long I wait, it won't change anything. Please give my regards to Hummingbird when you see him. Good bye. I won't see you again. Good bye."
Nighthawk cried as he flew back to his home. The short summer night was already drawing to a close.
The green fern leaves swayed gently in the cool air, breathing in the early morning mist. Nighthawk shrieked, keeshi - keeshi - keeshi! After neatly tidying up his nest and carefully combing all of his hair and feathers, he flew out from his home once more.
The fog had lifted and the sun was just starting to rise from the east. Fighting to withstand the blinding light that was enough to make him reel backwards, Nighthawk flew like an arrow, straight towards the sun.
"Oh Great Sun. Oh Great Sun. Please take me to where you are. I don't care if I'm burnt to a cinder. Surely even a bird with an ugly body like mine can give out a little light when it burns. Please take me."
Nighthawk flew on and on, but the sun never got any closer. Rather, it became smaller and distant, finally replying,
"So you are Nighthawk, are you? I see. It must be terribly hard for you. Next time, fly up and ask the stars to help you. You're not a bird of the daytime."
Nighthawk went to bow, but spun out of control, and ended up falling down into a grassy field. Everything became like a dream. His body seemed to be moving way, way up between stars of red and yellow, and then he was being blown for ever and ever by the wind, and then Hawk came, and he was caught in his clutches.
Something cold landed on his face. Nighthawk opened his eyes. A dewdrop had fallen from the tip of a young pampas plant. It was now well into the night, the stars sparkling across the great expanse of dark-blue sky. Nighthawk flew up into the sky. Tonight the fire on the mountain was crimson red. Nighthawk flew in circles amidst a faint glow from that fire, and the cold starlight. He flew around one more time. Then he flew at top speed, straight toward the beautiful Orion in the western sky, all the while crying out,
"Oh Great star. Oh Great blue and white star of the west. Please take me to where you are. I don't care if I'm burnt to a cinder."
Orion paid no attention to Nighthawk whatsoever, but continued singing its song of bravery. Nighthawk almost broke into tears, and tumbled back down, but finally steadied himself, flying in a circle once more. He then flew straight towards Canis Major in the south, crying out,
"Oh Great star. Oh Great blue star of the south. Please take me to where you are. I don't care if I'm burnt to a cinder."
Canis Major, busily sparkling in the most beautiful blues, purples and yellows, answered,
"Don't be so silly. What in heaven's name are you? A hawk's just a bird, isn't it? It would take you a million, billion, trillion years to fly here with those wings," and turned to face another direction.
Nighthawk lost heart and tumbled back down, but steadied and flew in a circle two more times. He then flew straight towards Great Bear in the north, crying out,
"Oh Great blue star of the north, please take me to where you are."
Great Bear calmly replied,
"Where'd you get such a crazy idea? You need to cool your head down. The best thing for that is to dive into the ocean near an iceberg, but if there's no ocean nearby, diving into a glass of water with some ice in it should do the trick."
Nighthawk lost heart and tumbled back down, but steadied and flew in a circle four more times. Then he tried once more, crying out to Aquila on the far side of the Milky Way that had just risen from the east.
"Oh Great white star of the east, please take me to where you are. I don't care if I'm burnt to a cinder."
"Certainly not! What complete and utter nonsense," replied Aquila, quite haughtily. "To become a star, one needs to have a social status befitting of such an honor. It also takes quite a lot of money."
All the energy drained from Nighthawk and he closed his wings and fell toward earth. But when those feeble legs were mere inches from hitting the ground, Nighthawk re-launched himself into the sky like a firework. He flew to the middle range of the sky and, just like an eagle that is about to attack a bear, his entire body shook and his feathers stood on end.
He then gave an almighty high-pitched shriek, keeshi- keeshi - keeshi - keeshi - keeshi! It sounded exactly like the cry of a hawk. All the birds that were asleep in the fields and the forest, opened their eyes, and shivering all over, looked frightfully up at the star filled sky.
Nighthawk flew straight up into the sky, flying higher and higher and higher. The fire on the mountain was now no bigger than the end of a cigarette. Nighthawk flew higher and higher.
The cold air froze his breath white against his breast. Because of the thin air he had to flap his wings like crazy.
But even so, the size of the stars hadn't changed one little bit. His breathing was like a pair of bellows. The cold and wind-frost cut him like a sword. His wings were completely numb. With tears in his eyes, Nighthawk looked up at the sky one more time. This was it. This was Nighthawk's last. He could no longer tell if he was climbing or falling, whether he was upright, or upside down. But what he felt was an inner peace, and there was no doubt that that large blood-stained beak of his, even though it was bent sideways, had a faint smile on it.
After a short while Nighthawk opened his eyes wide. And he saw that his body was now quietly burning, emitting a beautiful blue light, like a flame of phosphorous. Beside him was Cassiopeia. The pale-blue light of the Milky Way was right behind. And the Nighthawk's star went on burning. It burnt on and on, forever and ever. Even now, it continues to
burn.
THE END
Wild Pear – Yamanashi
by Kenji Miyazawa
Two blue slides from a magic lantern depicting the bottom of a small mountain stream.
Slide One - May
Two young crabs were talking at the bottom of the pale-blue water.
"Clambon laughed."
"Clambon bubbled with laughter."
"Clambon bounced up and down with laughter."
"Clambon bubbled with laughter."
Above their heads and to the side it was blue and dark, like steel. Dark bubbles were floating by, one at a time, along the smooth ceiling.
"Clambon was laughing."
"Clambon bubbled with laughter."
"So why did Clambon laugh?"
"I don't know."
Bubbles were floating by, one at a time. The young crabs blew five or six bubbles, plop, plop, plop, one after another. The bubbles shone like mercury, rocking from side to side, as they rose diagonally up.
Turning its stomach with a jerk, a fish passed by over their heads.
"Clambon died."
"Clambon was killed."
"Clambon is dead...."
"It was killed."
"So why was it killed?" Placing two of his four right legs onto the flat part of his younger brother's head, the elder brother said,
"I don't know."
The fish turned back with a jerk, and headed downstream.
"Clambon laughed."
"It laughed."
Suddenly it became bright, golden rays of sunshine falling into the water like a dream.
The net of light from the waves danced majestically, stretching and shrinking on the white rocks at the bottom. Long spherical shadows stretched directly down from the bubbles and litter, standing diagonally together in the water.
The fish returned, sending all of the golden rays scattering, its own body taking on a strange steelish glow, before it swam once more upstream.
"Why does the fish come and go like that?" asked the younger crab, moving his eyes as if dazzled by the light.
"It's doing something bad. It's catching something."
"Catching something?"
"Yeah."
The fish returned from upstream. This time it was swimming slow and calmly, without moving its fins or tail, just floating with the current, its mouth opened in the shape of a circle as it approached. Its black shadow slid silently over the net of light at the bottom.
"That fish……."
And then it happened. Suddenly white bubbles formed in the ceiling, and something flew inside like a blue shiny bullet.
The elder brother clearly saw that the blue thing had a black sharp point like the tip of a compass. And then with a flash, the white stomach of the fish flipped over and seemed to rise up, and then there was no more sign of the blue thing or the fish. The net of golden sunshine rocked back and forward, while the bubbles floated by one at a time.
The two crabs cowered in silence.
Out came the father crab.
"What happened? You are shivering all over."
"Pa, something strange was here."
"What was it?"
"It was blue and shiny. The end was really black and pointy. And after it came, the fish went up and disappeared.
"Were its eyes red?"
"I don't know."
"Hmm. Anyway, it was a bird. It's a kingfisher. Everything's all right, you don't need to worry. It's not interested in us."
"Pa, where did the fish go?"
"The fish? It's gone to a scary place."
"Pa, I'm scared."
"No, no, it's alright. Don't be frightened. Look, here comes a birch flower. Look at that, isn't it beautiful?"
A large number of petals from a white birch flower were sliding across the ceiling alongside some bubbles.
"Pa, I'm scared," said the younger crab, echoing his brother.
The net of light danced, stretching and shrinking, the shadows from the petals sliding over the sand.
Slide Two - November
The young crabs had grown quite big, and the scenery at the bottom had completely changed from summer to autumn.
Soft white round stones had tumbled in, while cone-shaped grains of crystal and shards of phlogopite had floated in from upstream.
Moonlight as if from a soda bottle, penetrated all the way to the bottom of the cold water, the waves on the ceiling like a pale-blue fire, burning and dying, over and over, while all around was silent, the sound of the waves echoing as if far off in the distance.
With the moon so bright and the water crystal clear, rather than sleep, the young crabs went outside their hole, quietly blowing bubbles and looking to the heavens.
"Yep, my bubbles are bigger."
"You are blowing them bigger on purpose. I can blow mine bigger if I want to."
"Go on then, try it. You see, that's as big as you can do. Now I'll blow mine, watch this. See, mine's bigger."
"It's not bigger, it's the same."
"Yours only looks big because you're so close. Right, let's blow out at the same time. Ready, go."
"See, mine's bigger."
"You think so? Right, one more time then."
"Hey, you're not allowed to stretch out like that!"
Out came the father crab once more.
"Right, it's time to go to bed. It's already late. Tomorrow I'm taking you to Essad."
"Pa, whose bubbles are bigger?"
"Well, that would most likely be your big brother."
"No they aren't, mine are bigger," said the younger crab almost in tears.
And then,
PLONK!
Something big, black and round fell from the ceiling, sinking all the way down, and then rising back up again. Patches of gold sparkled on its surface.
"Kingfisher!" cried the young crabs, pulling their heads back in.
Father crab strained to see, stretching his eyes like a pair of telescopes, before saying,
"No it's not, it's a wild pear. It's coming this way, let's follow it. Oh, it smells good."
And that explained why the moon-lit water was suddenly filled with a wonderful pear aroma.
The three crabs chased after the pear as it bobbed along.
With their three black shadows on the bottom, six crabs looked to be dancing, walking sideways as they chased after the round shadow of the pear.
Not long after, the water began to murmur, waves on the ceiling sending up flames of blue, the pear having caught on a tree branch lying on its side, a flurry of moonlight-rainbows floating above it.
"How about that, it's a wild pear, and it's nice and ripe. Doesn't it smell good?"
"It looks delicious, pa."
"Hang on! If we wait two more days it will sink down here and make delicious wine all by itself. Alright then, let's go home and sleep, come on."
The father and his two boys went back to their holes.
The waves now began dancing with pale-blue flames, sparkling as if scattered with specks of diamonds.
*
That's the end of my slides.
The Restaurant of Many Orders
by Kenji Miyazawa
Two young gentlemen, carrying beautifully polished rifles and dressed just as if they were English soldiers, and accompanied by two massive dogs that looked more like polar bears, were deep, deep into the woods having the following conversation, as the leaves on the forest floor rustled beneath their feet,
"There is something fishy about these woods, don't you think? Not a single bird or animal to be seen. I don't care what, I just wanna whack something soon, you know, Bam! Bam!"
"Two or three shots in the yellow belly of a deer would be quite delightful, don't you think? Around and around it would go, and then just collapse in a heap."
They were deep, deep into the woods. They were so far into the woods that even the professional shooter they'd hired to guide them had gotten all confused and wandered off somewhere.
Then, bec
ause of the sheer ghastliness of the place, those two dogs that were like polar bears, both suddenly became dizzy, started howling, and then frothed up at the mouth and died.
"That's just cost me 2,400 yen," said the first gentleman briefly peeling back the dog's eyelids.
"It cost me 2,800 yen," grimaced the second gentleman cocking his head to one side.
The first gentleman, his face having turned quite pale, looked carefully at the other gentleman as he spoke,
"I think I'll head back."
"Well, it has gotten cold and I am hungry so I think I'll head back too."
"Right, let's call it a day. Besides, we can buy a pheasant from the inn where we stayed last night for 10 yen on our way home."
"Yes, and they sold rabbits there too. Why, it's all the same in the end. Right, let's head back then shall we?"
But the terrible problem they had now was they hadn't the faintest idea which way home was.
All around them, the wind howled, the grass swooshed, the leaves rustled, the trees groaned.
"Boy am I hungry! I've got a pain in the side that is just killing me."
"I'm the same. I don't want to walk much further."
"No, me neither. Ah, we're in a bit of a fix now. I need something to eat."
"Yes, me too."
This is what the two gentlemen were saying as the pampas grass swooshed and swayed all around them.
Just then, they happened to look behind, and right there was a magnificent European style building.
A sign placed at the entrance, said,
*******************
RESTAURANT
WILDCAT HOUSE
*******************
"Hey, this is perfect. We weren't as far away from it all as we thought. Shall we go in?"
"Whoa, this is pretty strange here. I guess we can get something to eat though, right?"
"Of course we can. It says so on the sign doesn't it?"
"Then let's go in. I'm so hungry I'm about to fall over."
The two men stood at the entrance. The entrance, of solid white brick, looked quite magnificent.
In front of them stood a glass door with the following written in gold: