61. Yoko tī hia kòng âng-tāu-á | Yoko tī 遐摃紅豆仔

61. Yoko tī hia kòng âng-tāu-á

Keh-kang, Komako chiàu-siâng chin chá tō khí-chhn̂g.

"Góa bāng tio̍h khì chhah-hoe sai-hū ê pâng-keng piàⁿ-sàu, chū án-ne chhéⁿ khí-lâi."

Poaⁿ kàu thang-á piⁿ ê se-chng-tâi, kiàⁿ lih chiò tio̍h khàm móa âng-hio̍h ê soaⁿ. Kiàⁿ lāi ê chhiu-thiⁿ ji̍t-thâu, kng-iām chhàn-lān.

Thn̂g-á-tiàm ê chă-gín-á the̍h Komako thè-ōaⁿ ê saⁿ lâi.

"Koma-Chan." Che m̄-sī ùi thoah-mûi gōa-kháu thoân lâi ê chheng-chhó kah ē sim-suiⁿ ê Yoko ê kiò siaⁿ.

"Hit-ê ko͘-niû án-nóa ah?"

Komako kā Shimamura gán chi̍t-ē, kóng:

"Yi chhêng-chāi khì pài bōng. Lí khòaⁿ, chhu-seh-tiûⁿ ē-kha ū chi̍t-khu kiô-be̍h; khui pe̍h hoe. He tò-pêng tō sī bōng-á po͘, kám m̄-sī?"

Komako túiⁿ liáu-āu, Shimamura mā kiâⁿ khì chng lih sàn-pō͘.

Pe̍h-piah ê gîm-chîⁿ-kha, chi̍t-ê chhēng chu-âng jiông-á seh-khò͘ ê chă-gín-á tī hia phah chhiū-leng kiû. Khak-si̍t sī chhiu-thiⁿ ê kéng-tì.

Ū chin chē kó͘-chá-sek ê chhù, tāi-khài sī í-chá pak-pêng ê Daimyo (大名, its諸侯) lo̍h-lâm chham-kìⁿ Bakufu (幕府) ê sî-tāi só͘ khí-chō ê. Gîm-chîⁿ chhim-chhim, lâu-téng ê chóa thang-á kan-ta chi̍t-chhioh koân, sī tn̂g-liau hêng ê. Gîm-chîⁿ ē-kha kòa hm̂-á pian ê jia-lî.

Thô͘-phiâⁿ téng chèng chi̍t-chōa koaⁿ-bang lî-pa. Koaⁿ-bang khui móa-móa chhián-ûiⁿ ê hoe. Iù koh tn̂g ê hio̍h-á chi̍t-ki chi̍t-ki chhun chhut-lâi, súi kah ná-chhiūⁿ sī phùn-chôaⁿ.

Lō͘-piⁿ àⁿ-ji̍t ê só͘-chāi pho͘ chi̍t-niá chháu-chhio̍h-á, Yoko tī hia kòng âng-tāu-á.

Sè-sè ê âng-tāu-jîn ná-chhiūⁿ hoat-kuiⁿ ê chu-á án-ne, ùi ta tāu-châng thiàu chhut-lâi.

In-ūi thâu pau chhiú-kin, bô khòaⁿ-e Shimamura, chhēng seh-khò͘ ê Yoko kha-thâu-u peh khui-khui, ná kho̍k âng-tāu, ná chhiùⁿ he im-tiāu chheng-chhó kah kiâng boeh sim-suiⁿ, ná-chhiūⁿ tá-ūi hôe-im lâi ê koa: 

"Ia̍h-á, chhân-eⁿ, hām tō͘-kâu,
"Tī soaⁿ-téng ki-ki kā-kā tih chhiùⁿ-koa,
"Iáu ū matsumusi (松虫), suzumusi (鈴虫) hām chàu-ke."

--

61. Yoko tī 遐摃紅豆仔

隔工, Komako 照 siâng 真早 tō 起床.

"我夢著去插花師傅 ê 房間拚掃, 自 án-ne 醒起來."

搬到窗仔邊 ê 梳妝台, 鏡 lih 照著崁滿紅葉 ê 山. 鏡內 ê 秋天日頭, 光艷燦爛.

糖仔店 ê chă 囡仔提 Komako 替換 ê 衫來.

"Koma-Chan." 這毋是 ùi 挩 mûi 外口傳來 ê 清楚 kah 會 sim-suiⁿ ê Yoko ê 叫聲.

"彼个姑娘 án-nóa ah?"

Komako kā Shimamura 眼一下, 講:

"她 chhêng 在去拜墓. 你看, 趨雪場下跤有一坵蕎麥; 開白花. He 倒爿 tō 是墓仔埔, 敢毋是?"

Komako túiⁿ 了後, Shimamura mā 行去庄 lih 散步.

白壁 ê 砛簷跤, 一个穿朱紅絨仔雪褲 ê chă 囡仔 tī 遐拍樹奶球. 確實是秋天 ê 景致.

有真濟古早式 ê 厝, 大概是以早北爿ê Daimyo (大名, its 諸侯) 落南參見 Bakufu (幕府) ê 時代所起造 ê. 砛簷深深, 樓頂 ê 紙窗仔干焦一尺懸, 是長 liau 形 ê. 砛簷下跤掛茅仔編 ê 遮簾.

塗坪頂種一逝菅芒籬笆. 菅芒開滿滿淺 ûiⁿ ê 花. 幼 koh 長 ê 葉仔一支一支伸出來, 媠 kah ná 像是噴泉.

路邊 àⁿ 日 ê 所在鋪一領草蓆仔, Yoko tī 遐摃紅豆仔.

細細 ê 紅豆仁 ná 像發 kuiⁿ ê 珠仔 án-ne, ùi 焦豆叢跳出來.

因為頭包手巾, 無看 e Shimamura, 穿雪褲 ê Yoko 跤頭趺 peh 開開, ná 硞紅豆, ná 唱 he 音調清楚 kah kiâng 欲心 suiⁿ, ná 像 tá 位回音來 ê 歌: 

"蝶仔, 田嬰, 和杜猴,
"Tī 山頂 ki-ki kā-kā tih 唱歌,
"猶有 matsumusi (松虫), suzumusi (鈴虫) 和灶雞."

--

61.

Komako was up early the next morning. "I dreamed I was cleaning house for the woman who teaches flower-arranging, and I woke up."

She had moved the little dresser over to the window. In the mirror the mountains were red with autumn leaves, and the autumn sun was bright.

This time it was not Yoko he heard, Yoko calling through the door in that voice so clear he found it a little sad. Komako's clothes were brought rather by the little daughter of the man with whom she had her contract.

"What happened to the girl?" Shimamura asked.

Komako darted a quick glance at him. "She spends all her time at the cemetery. Over there at the foot of the ski course. See the buckwheat field -- the white flowers? And the cemetery to the left of it?"

Shimamura went for a walk in the village when Komako had left.

Before a white wall, shaded by eaves, a little girl in "mountain trousers" and an orange-red flannel kimono, clearly brand-new, was bouncing a rubber ball. For Shimamura, there was autumn in the little scene.

The houses were built in the style of the old regime. No doubt they were there when provincial lords passed down this north-country road. The eaves and the verandas were deep, while the latticed, paper-covered windows on the second floor were long and low, no more than a foot or so high. There were reed blinds hanging from the eaves.

Slender autumn grasses grew along the top of an earthen wall. The pale-yellow plumes were at their most graceful, and below each plume narrow leaves spread out in a delicate fountain.

Yoko knelt on a straw mat beside the road, flailing at beans spread out before her in the sunlight. The beans jumped from their dry pods like little drops of light.

Perhaps she could not see him because of the scarf around her head. She knelt, flailing away at the beans, her knees spread apart in their "mountain trousers," and she sang in that voice so clear it was almost sad, the voice that seemed to be echoing back from somewhere.

"The butterfly, the dragonfly, the cricket. The pine cricket, bell cricket, horse cricket Are singing in the hills."

--

60. M̄-thang o͘-pe̍h loān-bú | 毋通烏白亂舞

60. M̄-thang o͘-pe̍h loān-bú

Shimamura kàu taⁿ chiah chai, Komako ū chi̍t-ê hit-khoán ê lâng. Kóng, chū cha̍p-chhit-hòe khai-sí, liân-sòa tòe i gō͘-nî. Shimamura í-chá tō kám-kak hòⁿ-kî, kàu-taⁿ chiah chai Komako ná ē hiah-nī hàm koh bô kéng-kak.

Chò gē-tòaⁿ sai-á ê sî, thè yi sio̍k-sin hit-ê lâng sí liáu-āu, tún lâi Káng-khu sûi ū-lâng lâi kóng-chhin, in-ūi án-ne, yi chū thâu kàu taⁿ thó-ià hit-ê lâng, chóng-sī hām i bē ha̍h.

"Ē-tàng î-chhî gō͘-nî, kám m̄-sī chìn hó ah?"

"Ū nn̄g-kái hun-chhiú ê ki-hōe: lâi chia chò gē-tòaⁿ ê sî, hām ùi sai-hū ê chhù poaⁿ lâi chit-má chit-keng chhù ê sî. M̄-koh, góa ê ì-chì siuⁿ jio̍k. Góa ê ì-chì chóng-sī bē kian-tēng."

Yi kóng, hit-lâng tòa tī Káng-khu. In-ūi bó͘-chióng to-ha̍p, bē-tàng hō͘ yi mā tòa hia, tī sai-hū lâi chit-ê chng ê sî, tō kā yi kau hō͘ sai-hū chhōa lâi. I sī chhin-chhiat ê lâng, m̄-koh yi m̄-bat siūⁿ boeh kā ka-tī hí-phòe hō͘ i, kóng mā pi-ai. In-ūi nî-hòe chha chin chē, i kan-ta ū-sî-á lâi chi̍t-chōa.

"Boeh án-nóa chiah chhiat ē tūiⁿ? Góa tiāⁿ-tiāⁿ siūⁿ, kui-khì hām cha-po͘-lâng o͘-pe̍h loān-bú. Chin ê, ū án-ne siūⁿ."

"M̄-thang o͘-pe̍h loān-bú."

"Loān-bú góa mā bú bē lâi. Chóng-sī sèng-keh m̄-sī án-ne. Góa chìn thiàⁿ-sioh ka-tī ê hûn-su. Nā boeh, ē-sái kā sì-nî ê ha̍p-iak kî-hān sok-té chò nn̄g-nî. M̄-koh góa bô-ài bián-kióng, sin-thé tio̍h ài kò͘. Nā piàⁿ-miā chò, eng-kai ē thàn khah chē chîⁿ. Ha̍p-iak sī sùiⁿ nî ê, m̄-thang hō͘ thâu-ke chia̍h-khui. Múi kò goe̍h pún-chîⁿ gōa-chē, lī-sit gōa-chē, sòe-kim gōa-chē, koh ke hóe-si̍t-hùi, lóng sùiⁿ ē chheng. Só͘-í mā m̄-bián án-nóa piàⁿ-miā chò. Tú tio̍h lo-so ê iàn-hōe, nā kám-kak thó-ià, góa tō kín tún lâi. Nā m̄-sī se̍k-sāi ê lâng-kheh, siuⁿ àm ah, kheh-chàn mā bē khà tiān-ōe lâi. Ka-tī nā boeh phok-sóng, he sī bô chīn-pōng. Thàn ū-kàu khai tō hó. Pún-chîⁿ góa í-keng hân chi̍t-pòaⁿ í-siāng. Iáu-bōe chi̍t-nî neh. Sui-jiân án-ne, chi̍t-kò-goe̍h só͘-hùi mā tio̍h saⁿ-cha̍p-îⁿ."

Yi kóng, chi̍t-kò-goe̍h nā thàn chi̍t-pah-îⁿ tō ū-kàu khai-siau. Téng kò goe̍h, thàn siāng chió ê lâng sī saⁿ-pah-ki, ha̍p la̍k-cha̍p-îⁿ. Komako hù káu-cha̍p gōa thoaⁿ iàn-hōe, sī siāng chē ê, múi chi̍t-thoaⁿ iàn-hōe yi tit-tio̍h chi̍t-ki, sui-jiân thâu-ke chia̍h-khui, m̄-koh mā tio̍h ke cháu kúi-thoaⁿ ah. Chit-ê un-chôaⁿ khu, m̄-bat ū gē-tòaⁿ in-ūi khiàm-chè cheng-ka soah tio̍h iân-tn̂g ha̍p-iak kî-hān ê. 

--

60. 毋通烏白亂舞

Shimamura 到今才知, Komako 有一个彼款 ê 人. 講, 自十七歲開始, 連紲綴伊五年. Shimamura 以早 tō 感覺好奇, 到今才知 Komako 那會 hiah-nī 譀 koh 無警覺.

做藝旦 sai-á ê 時, 替她贖身彼个人死了後, tún 來港區隨有人來講親, 因為 án-ne, 她自頭到今討厭彼个人, 總是和伊袂合.

"會當維持五年, 敢毋是晉好 ah?"

"有兩改分手 ê 機會: 來遮做藝旦 ê 時, 和 ùi 師傅 ê 厝搬來這馬這間厝 ê 時. 毋過, 我 ê 意志傷弱. 我 ê 意志總是袂堅定."

她講, 彼人蹛 tī 港區. 因為某種都合, 袂當予她 mā 蹛遐, tī 師傅來這个庄 ê 時, tō kā 她交予師傅 chhōa 來. 伊是親切 ê 人, 毋過她 m̄-bat 想欲 kā 家治許配予伊, 講 mā 悲哀. 因為年歲差真濟, 伊干焦有時仔來一逝.

"欲 án-nóa 才切會 tūiⁿ? 我定定想, 規氣和查埔人烏白亂舞. 真 ê, 有 án-ne 想."

"毋通烏白亂舞."

"亂舞我 mā 舞袂來. 總是性格毋是 án-ne. 我晉疼惜家治 ê 魂軀. 若欲, 會使 kā 四年 ê 合 iak 期限縮短做兩年. 毋過我無愛勉強, 身體著愛顧. 若拚命做, 應該會趁較濟錢. 合 iak 是 sùiⁿ 年 ê, 毋通予頭家食虧. 每個月本錢偌濟, 利息偌濟, 稅金偌濟, koh 加伙食費, 攏 sùiⁿ 會清. 所以 mā 毋免 án-nóa 拚命做. 拄著 lo-so ê 宴會, 若感覺討厭, 我 tō 緊 tún 來. 若毋是熟似 ê 人客, 傷暗 ah, 客棧 mā 袂敲電話來. 家治若欲博爽, 彼是無盡磅. 趁有夠開 tō 好. 本錢我已經 hân 一半以上. 猶未一年 neh. 雖然 án-ne, 一個月所費 mā 著三十圓."

她講, 一個月若趁一百圓 tō 有夠開銷. 頂個月, 趁上少 ê 人是三百支, 合六十圓. Komako 赴九十外攤宴會, 是上濟 ê, 每一攤宴會她得著一支, 雖然頭家食虧, 毋過 mā 著加走幾攤 ah. 這个溫泉區, m̄-bat 有藝旦因為欠債增加煞著延長合 iak 期限 ê. 

--

60.

That was the first Shimamura had heard of the "one man" in Komako's life. She had known him since she was sixteen, she said. Shimamura thought he understood now the lack of caution that had at first so puzzled him.

She had never liked the man, Komako continued, and had never felt near him, perhaps because the affair had begun when she was down on the coast just after the death of the man who had paid her debts.

"But it's certainly better than average if it's lasted five years."

"I've had two chances to leave him. When I went to work as a geisha here, and when I moved after the music teacher died. But I've never had the will power to do it. I don't have much will power."

The man was still down on the coast. It had not been convenient to keep her there, and when the music teacher came back to these mountains he had left Komako with her. He had been very kind, Komako said, and it made her sad to think that she could not give her whole self to him. He was considerably older than she, and he but rarely came to see her.

"I sometimes think it would be easiest to break away from him if I were to be really bad. I honestly think so sometimes."

"That would never do."

"But I wouldn't be up to it. It's not in my nature. I'm fond of this body I live in. If I tried, I could cut my four years down to two, but I don't strain myself. I take care of myself. Think of all the money I could make if I really tried. But it's enough if the man I have my contract with hasn't lost money at the end of four years. I know about how much it takes each month for an installment on the loan, and interest, and taxes, and my own keep, and I don't strain myself to make more. If it's a party that doesn't seem worth the trouble, I slip off and go home, and they don't call me late at night even from the inn unless an old guest has asked especially for me. If I wanted to be extravagant, I could go on and on, but I work as the mood takes me. That's enough. I've already paid back more than half the money, and it's not a year yet. But even so I manage to spend thirty yen or so on myself every month."

It was enough if she made a hundred yen a month, she said. The month before, the least busy of the year, she had made sixty yen. She had had some ninety parties, more than any other geisha. She received a fixed amount for herself from each party, and the larger number of parties therefore meant relatively more for her and less for the man to whom she v.'as indentured. But she moved busily from one to another as the spirit took her. There was not a single geisha at this hot spring who lost money and had to extend her contract.

--

59. Góa chit-khoán lâng kám bē-sái seⁿ-kiáⁿ | 我這款人, 敢袂使生囝?

59. Góa chit-khoán lâng kám bē-sái seⁿ-kiáⁿ

Pak-tó͘ ê pûi-iû piàn khah kāu ah.

Sui-bóng kú bô kìⁿ-bīn, lī-pia̍t sî lia̍h bē-tio̍h ê kám-chêng, taⁿ chi̍t-ē kìⁿ-bīn, chin kín iū-koh hôe-ho̍k chhin-bi̍t.

Komako kā chhiú ah tī heng-chêng, kóng:

"Chi̍t-pêng piàn khah tōa ah."

"Sam-pat. Hit-ê lâng ū koài-phiah neh, kan-ta bong chi̍t-pêng."

"Aih! Chìn thó-ià. O͘-pe̍h kóng, thó-ià ê lâng." Komako hut-leh pìⁿ-bīn. Yi tō sī chit-khoán sèng! Shimamura siūⁿ khí-lâi. 

"Nn̄g-pêng lóng ài pêng-kin, āu-pái án-ne kā kóng."

"Pêng-kin? Kiò góa kā kóng ài pêng-kin?" Komako kā bīn un-jiû óa kòe-khì.

Chit-ê pâng-keng tī jī-lâu, chhù ê sì-piⁿ ū chiuⁿ-chî ná se̍h ná kiò, put-chí chi̍t-chiah, káⁿ ū nn̄g-chiah a̍h saⁿ-chiah tih se̍h koh kiò, kú-kú bô thêng.

Ùi sit-lāi e̍k-tî tún lâi, Komako iōng an-sim, pêng-chēng ê kháu-khì koh kóng-khí ka-tī ê sin-sè.

Yi sīm-chì kóng-khí, tī chia tē-it kái khì chò kiám-cha ê sî, yi siūⁿ-kóng hām gē-tòaⁿ-sai-á ê sî kāng-khoán, saⁿ kan-ta thùiⁿ kàu heng-chêng, soah hō͘ lâng kā chhiò kah, hāi yi khàu chhut-lâi. Shimamura ná kā mūi, yi koh ná kā ìn:

"Góa he lóng chìn chún-sî, ta̍k kò goe̍h lóng chá nn̄g-kang lâi."

"He lâi ê sî, khì hù iàn-hōe kám bē chìn mâ-hoân?"

"Eh, lí mā chai chit-lō tāi-chì neh?"

Ta̍k-kang chìm ē-tàng sio-lo̍h hûn-su ê chhut-miâ un-chôaⁿ, ūi-tio̍h hù iàn-hōe, tī kū un-chôaⁿ hām sin un-chôaⁿ tiong-kan tio̍h kiâⁿ chi̍t-lí-lō͘, tī chit-ê soaⁿ-kheⁿ lih iū-koh chin chió òaⁿ khùn, só͘-tì, yi ê hûn-su chin ióng-chòng. M̄-koh yi ê thé-hêng hām it-poaⁿ gē-tòaⁿ kāng-khoán, kut-pôaⁿ khah e̍h, siang-pêng e̍h, chêng-āu kāu. Sui-bóng án-ne, yi sī ē-tàng hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ kā Shimamura siâⁿ lâi ê cha-bó͘, in-ūi yi ê hûn-su ū chhim-chhim ai-oàn ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ.

"Chhiūⁿ góa chit-khoán lâng, kám bē-sái seⁿ kiáⁿ?" Komako án-ne téng-chin tih mūi. Yi ê ì-sù sī kóng, góa nā kan-ta tùi chi̍t-ê lâng chīn-tiong, án-ne hām ang-á-bó͘ kám ū sáⁿ bô kāng?

--

59. 我這款人, 敢袂使生囝?

腹肚 ê 肥油變較厚 ah.

雖罔久無見面, 離別時掠袂著 ê 感情, 今一下見面, 真緊又閣回復親密.

Komako kā 手壓 tī 胸前, 講:

"一爿變較大 ah."

"三八. 彼个人有怪癖 neh, 干焦摸一爿."

"Aih! 晉討厭. 烏白講, 討厭 ê 人." Komako 忽 leh pìⁿ 面. 她 tō 是這款性! Shimamura 想起來. 

"兩爿攏愛平均, 後擺 án-ne kā 講."

"平均? 叫我 kā 講愛平均?" Komako kā 面溫柔倚過去.

這个房間 tī 二樓, 厝 ê 四邊有螿蜍 ná 踅 ná 叫, 不止一隻, káⁿ 有兩隻 a̍h 三隻 tih 踅 koh 叫, 久久無停.

Ùi sit 內浴池 tún 來, Komako 用安心, 平靜 ê 口氣 koh 講起家治 ê 身世.

她甚至講起, tī 遮第一改去做檢查 ê 時, 她想講和藝旦 sai-á ê 時仝款, 衫干焦 thùiⁿ 到胸前, 煞予人 kā 笑 kah, 害她哭出來. Shimamura ná kā mūi, 她 koh ná kā 應:

"我 he 攏晉準時, 逐個月攏早兩工來."

"He 來 ê 時, 去赴宴會敢袂晉麻煩?"

"Eh, 你 mā 知 chit-lō 代誌 neh?"

逐工浸會當燒 lo̍h 魂軀 ê 出名溫泉, 為著赴宴會, tī 舊溫泉和新溫泉中間著行一里路, tī 這个山坑 lih 又閣真少晏睏, 所致, 她 ê 魂軀真勇壯. 毋過她 ê 體型和一般藝旦仝款, 骨盤較狹, 雙爿狹, 前後厚. 雖罔 án-ne, 她是會當 hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ kā Shimamura 唌來 ê 查某, 因為她 ê 魂軀有深深哀怨 ê 物件.

"像我這款人, 敢袂使生囝?" Komako án-ne 頂真 tih mūi. 她 ê 意思是講, 我若干焦對一个人盡忠, án-ne 和翁仔某敢有啥無仝?

--

59.

The fat on her abdomen was heavier, he had noticed.

They had long been apart, but what eluded his grasp when he was away from her was immediately near and familiar when he was beside her agaIn.

"One is bigger than the other." She cupped her breasts lightly in her hands.

"I suppose that's a habit of his--one side only."

"What a nasty thing to say! " Here she was-this was it, he remembered.

"Next time tell him to treat them both alike." "Alike? Shall 1 tell him to treat them both alike?" She brought her face gently toward his.

It was a second-floor room, but it seemed to be surrounded by croaking toads. Two and three of them were moving from spot to spot, remarkably long-winded croakers.

Back from the bath, Komako began talking of herself. Her voice was quiet and her manner was completely serene.

The first physical examination she had had here -she thought it would be as when she was an apprentice geisha, and she bared her chest for a tuberculosis check. The doctor laughed, and she burst into tears-such were the intimate details she went into. She talked on as Shimamura encouraged her with questions.

"I'm always exactly on the calendar. Two days less than a month each time."

"I don't suppose it keeps you from your parties?"

"You understand such things, do you?"

Every day she had a bath in the hot spring, famous for its lingering warmth. She walked two miles and more between parries at the old spring and the new, and here in the mountains there were few parties that kept her up late. She was therefore healthy and full-bodied, though she did have a suggestion of the low, bunched-up hips so common with geisha. narrow from side to side and wide from front to back. To Shirnamura there was something touching about the fact that such a woman could call him back from afar.

"I wonder if I can have children." And she wondered too if being generally faithful to one man was not the same thing as being married.

--

58. Chi̍t-nî chi̍t-pái, lí it-tēng ài lâi | 一年一擺, 你一定愛來

58. Chi̍t-nî chi̍t-pái, lí it-tēng ài lâi

"Kì-jiân liáu-kái, kóng lâi hō͘ góa thiaⁿ. Aih, lí kóng khòaⁿ-māi." Komako hut-jiân kip siaⁿ pek i kóng. "Kóng lâi thiaⁿ khòaⁿ-māi. Kóng bô lō͘-lâi hoⁿh? Kan-ta pe̍h-chha̍t. Lí seng-oa̍h phok-sóng, bô iàu bô kín. Lí bē liáu-kái lah."

Án-ne liáu, kā siaⁿ-im pàng kē, koh kóng:

"Chiâⁿ siang-sim. Góa chiâⁿ gōng. Chhiáⁿ lí bîn-á-chài tō hó túiⁿ."

"Lí án-ne jek-leh mūi, góa ná kóng ē chheng-chhó."

"Ná ē kóng bē chheng-chhó? Lí tō sī án-ne tih m̄-tio̍h." Komako pìⁿ bô pō͘, bô koh chhut-siaⁿ. Yi ba̍k-chiu kheh-kheh, sim-koaⁿ án-ne siūⁿ: góa sim-lih ê ì-sù, Shimamura it-tēng thé-hōe ē chhut, tō kek chi̍t-ê lí-kái ê chu-thài, kóng:

"Chi̍t-nî chi̍t-pái mā ē-sái, lí tio̍h ài lâi oh. Góa tī chia ê sî, chi̍t-nî chi̍t-pái, chhiáⁿ lí it-tēng ài lâi."

Yi kóng, yi ê ha̍p-iak kî-hān sī sì-nî.

"Túiⁿ pún-ke ê sî, bô siūⁿ tio̍h ē koh chhut-lâi chò, lī-khui ê sî, liân chhu-seh-pang mā sàng lâng ah. Chò ū-kàu ê, kan-ta sī hun í-keng kái ah."

"Tio̍h, tio̍h. Chá-chêng lí pok chiok tōa neh."

"Sī ah. Iàn-hōe sî lâng-kheh hō͘ góa ê, góa kā chhàng tī chhiú-úiⁿ té, túiⁿ chhù chóng-sī the̍h chhut kúi-ā ki."

"Sì-nî, sī chìn tn̂g ê sî-kan."

"Chìn kín tō ē kòe-khì ah."

"Chìn un-loán." Shimamura kā óa kòe-lâi ê Komako lám khí-lâi.

"Góa seⁿ lâi tō sī un-loán."

"Chia ê chá-àm í-keng chìn léng ah neh."

"Góa lâi chia í-keng gō͘-nî ah. Tú lâi chìn ko͘-toaⁿ, siūⁿ-kóng ná ē lâi tòa chit-khoán só͘-chāi. Hóe-chhia khai-thong chìn-chêng, chìn hi-bî. Lí chho͘-chhù lâi kàu taⁿ, mā í-keng saⁿ-nî ah."

Shimamura sim-lih siūⁿ: bô saⁿ-nî í-keng lâi saⁿ-pái, ta̍k-pái Komako ê seng-oa̍h lóng ū piàn-hòa.

Ū kúi-ā chiah chàu-ke hut-jiân chhut-siaⁿ tih kiò.

"Thó-ià!" Komako ná kóng ná ùi i ê kha-thâu-u khiā khí-lâi.

Chi̍t-chūn pak-hong chhoe lâi, thih-se-thang téng ê ia̍h-á chiâu poe khí-lâi.

Shimamura bêng chai, yi he ná bui-bui peh-khui ê o͘ ba̍k-chiu, kî-si̍t sī kheh óa ê ba̍k-chiu-mo͘, m̄-koh i iáu-sī óa kīn kā khòaⁿ chi̍t-ē.

"Kái-hun liáu, góa piàn tōa-kho͘ ah."

--

58.  一年一擺, 你一定愛來

"既然了解, 講來予我聽. Aih, 你講看覓." Komako 忽然急聲迫伊講.  "講來聽看覓. 講無路來 hoⁿh? 干焦白賊. 你生活博爽, 無要無緊. 你袂了解 lah."

Án-ne 了, kā 聲音放低, koh 講:

"誠 siang 心. 我誠戇. 請你明仔載 tō 好 túiⁿ."

"你 án-ne jek-leh mūi, 我那講會清楚."

"那會講袂清楚? 你 tō 是 án-ne tih 毋著." Komako pìⁿ 無步, 無 koh 出聲. 她目睭瞌瞌, 心肝 án-ne 想: 我心 lih ê 意思, Shimamura 一定體會會出, tō 激一个理解 ê 姿態, 講:

"一年一擺 mā 會使, 你著愛來 oh. 我 tī 遮 ê 時, 一年一擺, 請你一定愛來."

她講, 她 ê ha̍p-iak 期限是四年.

"Túiⁿ 本家 ê 時, 無想著會 koh 出來做, 離開 ê 時, 連趨雪枋 mā 送人 ah. 做有到 ê, 干焦是薰已經改 ah."

"著, 著. 早前你噗足大 neh."

"是 ah. 宴會時人客予我 ê, 我 kā 藏 tī 手 úiⁿ 底, túiⁿ 厝總是提出幾 ā 支."

"四年, 是晉長 ê 時間."

"晉緊 tō 會過去 ah."

"晉溫暖." Shimamura kā 倚過來 ê Komako 攬起來.

"我生來 tō 是溫暖."

"遮 ê 早暗已經晉冷 ah neh."

"我來遮已經五年 ah. 拄來晉孤單, 想講那會來蹛這款所在. 火車開通進前, 晉稀微. 你初次來到今, mā 已經三年 ah."

Shimamura 心 lih 想: 無三年已經來三擺, 逐擺 Komako ê 生活攏有變化.

有幾 ā 隻灶雞忽然出聲 tih 叫.

"討厭!" Komako ná 講 ná ùi 伊 ê 跤頭趺徛起來.

一陣北方吹來, 鐵紗窗頂 ê 蝶仔 chiâu 飛起來.

Shimamura 明知, 她彼 ná bui-bui 擘開 ê 烏目睭, 其實是瞌倚 ê 目睭毛, 毋過伊猶是倚近 kā 看一下.

"改薰了, 我變大箍 ah."

--

58.

"If you understand, then tell me. Tell me, if you see how 1 feel." Again that tense, urgent note came into her voice. "See, you can't. Lying again. You have plenty of money, and you're not much of a person. You don't understand at all." She lowered her voice. "I'm very lonely sometimes. But I'm a fool. Go back to Tokyo, tomorrow."

"It's very well for you to condemn me, but how can you expect me to tell you exactly what I mean?"

"Why can't you? It's wrong of you." Her voice was almost desperate. Then she closed her eyes, and began again as if she had asked herself whether Shimamura knew her, felt her for what she was, and had answered that he did. "Once a year is enough. You'll come once a year, won't you, while I'm here?"

Her contract was for four years, she said.

"When I was at home, I didn't dream I would ever be a geisha again. I even gave away my skis before I left. And so all I've accomplished, I suppose, has been to give up smoking."

"I remember how much you used to smoke, now that you mention it."

"When guests at parties give me cigarettes, 1 tuck them away in my sleeve, and I have a fine collection by the time I'm ready to go home."

"But four years--that's a long time."

"It will pass in a hurry."

"Aren't you wann, though." Shimamura took her in his arms as she came to him.

"I've always been warm."

"I suppose the nights will be getting chilly." 

"It's five years now since I came here. At first I wondered how I could live in such a place-especially before the railroad came through. And it's going on two years since you first came."

He had come three times in less than two years, and on each new visit he had found Komako's life changed.

Crickets were chirping outside in a noisy chorus.

"I wish they'd be a little quieter." Komako pulled away from Shimamura.

The moths at the window started up as the wind came from the north.

Shimamura knew well enough that the thick eyelashes made her eyes seem half open, and yet he found himself looking again to be sure.

"I'm fatter now that I've stopped smoking."

--

57. Siūⁿ boeh ū sù-sī ê seng-oa̍h | 想欲有四序 ê 生活

57. Siūⁿ boeh ū sù-sī ê seng-oa̍h

Pak-kok siàu-lú ê âng-jūn iáu lâu tio̍h. Gē-tòaⁿ te̍k-iú ê phôe-hu tī goe̍h-kuiⁿ lih ke chi̍t-chân lê-á-khak ê kim-ku̍t.

"Iah, lí kám chai góa poaⁿ-chhù ah?"

"Ūi tio̍h sai-hū ê sí? Bô koh tòa tī hit-keng niû-á pâng ah neh. Taⁿ tòa ê sī chèng-sek ê gē-tòaⁿ chhù?"

"Chèng-sek ê gē-tòaⁿ chhù? Sī án-ne lah, tiàm-á tih bē thn̂g-á hām hun. Góa iû-goân sī ka-tī chi̍t-lâng tòa. Chit-má chin-chiàⁿ sī chia̍h lâng ê thâu-lō͘ ah. Àm-sî tō tiám la̍h-chek khòaⁿ-chheh."

Shimamura siang-chhiú sio-lám, chhiò chhut-siaⁿ.

"Tiān-pió ê koan-hē. Bē-sái iōng siuⁿ chē tiān."

"Sī án-ne oh."

"M̄-koh, in lâng tùi góa chìn hó, ū-sî góa siūⁿ-kóng, án-ne kám mā sùiⁿ chia̍h-thâu-lō͘? Chhù lih ê gín-á nā khàu, thâu-ke-niû kiaⁿ khì chhá tio̍h góa, tō kā gín-á chhōa chhut-khì gōa-kháu. Góa tùi in bô ì-kiàn. M̄-koh, góa thó-ià in bîn-chhn̂g pho͘ bô chiàⁿ. Góa nā khah òaⁿ túiⁿ, in ē thè góa pho͘ bîn-chhn̂g, ū-sî phōe hām thiap-phōe pho͘ bô chê, a̍h-sī phōe-toaⁿ pho͘ oai khì. Án-ne góa khòaⁿ tio̍h chìn gāi-gio̍h. M̄-koh neh, góa iū-koh pháiⁿ-sè kā têng pho͘ kòe. Lâng chóng-sī chi̍t-phiàn hó-sim lah."

"Lí nā ū ka-tī ê chhù, ē thiám--sí."

"Ta̍k-ê lóng án-ne kóng. Pún-sèng lah. Chhù lih ū sì-ê sè-hàn gín-á, sì-kè loān chhau-chhau. Góa kui-ji̍t kā chéng-lí. Bêng-chai, chéng-lí liáu sûi tō ē koh loān chhau-chhau, m̄-koh kám-kak bô án-ne bē-sái. Chí-iàu khoân-kéng ē-tàng ê hoān-ûi, góa iáu sī siūⁿ boeh ū sù-sī ê seng-oa̍h."

"Án-ne bô m̄-tio̍h."

"Lí liáu-kái góa ê sim-chêng hoⁿh?"

"Tong-jiân liáu-kái."

--

57. 想欲有四序 ê 生活

北國少女 ê 紅潤猶留著. 藝旦特有 ê 皮膚 tī 月 kuiⁿ lih 加一層螺仔殼 ê 金滑.

"Iah, 你敢知我搬厝 ah?"

"為著師傅 ê 死? 無 koh 蹛 tī 彼間娘仔房 ah neh. 今蹛 ê 是正式 ê 藝旦厝?"

"正式 ê 藝旦厝? 是 án-ne lah, 店仔 tih 賣糖仔和薰. 我猶原是家治一人蹛. 這馬真正是食人 ê 頭路 ah. 暗時 tō 點蠟燭看冊."

Shimamura 雙手相攬, 笑出聲.

"電錶 ê 關係. Bē-sái 用傷濟電."

"是 án-ne oh."

"毋過, in 人對我晉好, 有時我想講, án-ne 敢 mā sùiⁿ 食頭路? 厝 lih ê 囡仔若哭, 頭家娘驚去吵著我, tō kā 囡仔 chhōa 出去外口. 我對 in 無意見. 毋過, 我討厭 in 眠床鋪無正. 我若較晏 túiⁿ, in 會替我鋪眠床, 有時被和 thiap 被鋪無齊, 抑是被單鋪歪去. Án-ne 我看著晉礙虐. 毋過 neh, 我又閣歹勢 kā 重鋪過. 人總是一片好心 lah."

"你若有家治 ê 厝, 會忝死."

"逐个攏 án-ne 講. 本性 lah. 厝 lih 有四个細漢囡仔, 四界亂操操. 我規日 kā 整理. 明知, 整理了隨 tō 會 koh 亂操操, 毋過感覺無 án-ne 袂使. 只要環境會當 ê 範圍, 我猶是想欲有四序 ê 生活."

"Án-ne 無毋著."

"你了解我 ê 心情 hoⁿh?"

"當然了解."

--

57.

Her cheeks still carried the ruddiness of her north-country girlhood. In the moonlight the fine geishalike skin took on the luster of a sea shell.

"But did you hear I'd moved?"

"Since the teacher died? You're not in the silk-worms' room any more, then? This time it's a real geisha house?"

" A real geisha house? I suppose i t is. They sell tobacco and candy in the shop, and I'm the only geisha they have. I have a real contract, and when I read late in the night I always use a candle to save electricity."

Shimamura let out a loud guffaw.

"The meter, you know. Shouldn't use too much electricity."

"I see, I see."

"But they're very good to me, so good that I sometimes find it hard to believe I'm really hired out as a geisha. When one of the children cries, the mother takes it outside so that I won't be bothered. I have nothing to complain about. Only sometimes the bedding is crooked. When I coml' home late at night, everything is laid out for me, but the mattresses aren't square one on the other, and the sheet is wrong. I hate it. After they've been so kind, though, I feel guilty making the bed over."

"You'd wear yourself out if you had a house of your own."

"So everyone says. There are four little chil­ dren, and the place is a terrible clutter. 1 spend the whole day picking things up. 1 know everything will be thrown down again as soon as my back is turned, but somehow 1 can't help myself. I want to be as clean and neat as the place will let me. . . . Do you understand how 1 feel?"

"I understand."

--

56. M̄ siá lín bó͘ ē-sái khòaⁿ ê phe | 毋寫恁某會使看 ê 批

56. M̄ siá lín bó͘ ē-sái khòaⁿ ê phe

Shimamura tiām chi̍t-khùn, chiah koh kóng:

"Chia ê chheⁿ hām tī Tokyo khòaⁿ ê bô kāng. In khòaⁿ tio̍h ká-ná phû tī thài-khong."

"Ū goe̍h ê àm-mê tō bē án-ne lah. Kin-nî ê seh te̍k-pia̍t tōa."

"Hóe-chhia ká-ná tiāⁿ-tiāⁿ bē thong."

"Sī ah, chiâⁿ khióng-pò͘. Chū-tōng-chhia mā khah bān óng-nî chi̍t-kò-goe̍h, iā-tō-sī kàu gō͘-goe̍h chiah thong-chhia. Chhu-seh-tiûⁿ ū chi̍t-keng hoàn-bē-pō͘, jī-lâu hō͘ pang-seh chhiong tó khì, lâu-kha ê lâng iáu m̄-chai, thiaⁿ tio̍h koài-siaⁿ, siūⁿ-kóng he sī niáu-chhí tī chàu-kha chok-koài. Cháu khì khòaⁿ, sáⁿ to bô, peh chiūⁿ jī-lâu, chiah khòaⁿ tio̍h kui-thô͘-kha lóng sī seh. Hō͘-jia téng-téng ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ lóng khì hō͘ seh chhiong cháu ah. Sui-bóng sī piáu-chân ê pang-seh, m̄-koh lajíoh hòng-sàng kah chiok lī-hāi, heh kah chhu-seh ê lâng-kheh soah m̄-káⁿ lâi. Góa phah-sùiⁿ kin-nî m̄ koh chhu-seh ah. Só͘-í kū-nî té kā chhu-seh-pang sàng lâng ah. Sui-bóng án-ne, góa mā ū khì chhu nn̄g-saⁿ-kái. Góa ū piàn bô?"

"Sai-hū óng-seng liáu-āu, lí tih chò sáⁿ?"

"Pa̍t-lâng ê tāi-chì, lí tō mài thàm-thiaⁿ lah. Jī-goe̍h góa chún-sî lâi kàu chia tán lí ah."

"Kì-jiân túiⁿ káng-khu, siá-phe hō͘ góa m̄-sī tō ē-sái ah?"

"M̄ leh! Góa chiah m̄ chò hit-lō khó-liân tāi. Góa m̄ siá hit-khoán lín bó͘ mā ē-sái khòaⁿ ê phe. Án-ne chiâⁿ khó-liân. Góa m̄-bián in-ūi ū kò͘-lī lâi kóng pe̍h-chha̍t."

Komako chèⁿ-chhùi kóng kah chin kek-lia̍t. Shimamura kan-ta tìm-thâu.

"Taⁿ lí mài koh chē tī thâng-á tui lih, thōng-hó sī kā tiān-hóe kìm hoa."

Goe̍h chin kuiⁿ, chhim-chhim chiò ji̍p-lâi, liân yi ê hīⁿ-á phòng hām liap mā khòaⁿ kah chheng-chheng chhó-chhó, tatami ê sek-chúi piàn kah léng-léng koh chheⁿ hoaⁿ.

 Komako ê chhùi-tûn jiû koh ku̍t, ná-chhiūⁿ chi̍t khian súi tang-tang ê ngô͘-khî.

"Aih, góa boeh lâi túiⁿ ah."

"Iáu sī hit-lō khoán neh." Shimamura thâu sió taⁿ chi̍t-ē, óa-kīn khòaⁿ yi he tiong-ng sió-khóa khah koân ê îⁿ bīn, ká-ná ū tá-ūi koài-koài.

"Ta̍k-ê lóng kóng, góa hām cha̍p-chhit hòe lâi ê sî lóng bô piàn. Kóng tio̍h seng-oa̍h, lóng mā sī án-ne."

--

56. 毋寫恁某會使看 ê 批

Shimamura 恬一睏, 才 koh 講:

"遮 ê 星和 tī Tokyo 看 ê 無仝. In 看著 ká-ná 浮 tī 太空."

"有月 ê 暗暝 tō 袂 án-ne lah. 今年 ê 雪特別大."

"火車 ká-ná 定定袂通."

"是 ah, 誠恐怖. 自動車 mā 較慢往年一個月, 也 tō 是到五月才通車. 趨雪場有一間販賣部, 二樓予崩雪沖倒去, 樓跤 ê 人猶毋知, 聽著怪聲, 想講 he 是鳥鼠 tī 灶跤作怪. 走去看, 啥 to 無, peh 上二樓, 才看著規塗跤攏是雪. 雨遮等等 ê 物件攏去予雪沖走 ah. 雖罔是表層 ê 崩雪, 毋過 lajíoh 放送 kah 足厲害, 嚇 kah 趨雪 ê 人客煞毋敢來. 我拍 sùiⁿ 今年毋 koh 趨雪 ah. 所以舊年底 kā 趨雪枋送人 ah. 雖罔 án-ne, 我 mā 有去趨兩三改. 我有變無?"

"師傅往生了後, 你 tih 做啥?"

"別人 ê 代誌, 你 tō 莫探聽 lah. 二月我準時來到遮等你 ah."

"既然 túiⁿ 港區, 寫批予我毋是 tō 會使 ah?"

"毋 leh! 我才毋做 hit-lō 可憐代. 我毋寫彼款恁某 mā 會使看 ê 批. Án-ne 誠可憐. 我毋免因為有顧慮來講白賊."

Komako 諍喙講 kah 真激烈. Shimamura 干焦 tìm 頭.

"今你莫 koh 坐 tī 蟲仔堆 lih, thōng 好是 kā 電火禁 hoa."

月真 kuiⁿ, 深深照入來, 連她 ê 耳仔膨和 liap mā 看 kah 清清楚楚, tatami ê 色水變 kah 冷冷 koh 青 hoaⁿ.

 Komako ê 喙唇柔 koh 滑, ná 像一圈媠 tang-tang ê 蜈蜞.

"Aih, 我欲來 túiⁿ ah."

"猶是 hit-lō 款 neh." Shimamura 頭小 taⁿ 一下, 倚近看她 he 中央小可較懸 ê 圓面, ká-ná 有 tá 位怪怪.

"逐个攏講, 我和十七歲來 ê 時攏無變. 講著生活, 攏 mā 是 án-ne."

--

56.

"The stars here are different from the stars in Tokyo," Shimamura said after a time. "They seem to float up from the sky."

"Not tonight, though. The moon is too bright. . . . The snow was dreadful this year."

"I understand there were times when the trains couldn't get through."

"I was almost afraid. The roads weren't open until May, a month later than usual. You know the shop up at the ski grounds? An avalanche went through the second floor of it. The people below heard a strange noise and thought the rats were tearing up the kitchen. There were no rats, though, and when they looked upstairs the place was full of snow and the shutters and all had been carried off. It was j ust a surface slide, but there was a great deal of talk on the radio. The skiers were frightened away. I said I wouldn't ski any more and I gave my skis away the end of last year, but I went out again after all. Twice, three times maybe. Have I changed?"

"What have you been doing Since the music teacher died?"

"Don't you worry about other people's problems. I came back and I was waiting for you in February."

"But if you were down on the coast you could have written me a letter."

"I couldn't. I really couldn't. I couldn't possibly write the sort of letter your wife would see. I couldn't bring myself to. I don't tell lies just because people might be listening." The words came at him in a sudden torrent. He only nodded. "Why don't you turn out the light? You don't have to sit in this swarm of insects."

The moonlight, so bright that the furrows in the woman's ear were clearly shadowed, struck deep into the room and seemed to turn the mats on the floor a chilly green.

"No. Let me go horne."

"I see you haven't changed." Shimamura raised his head. There was something strange in her manner. He peered into the slightly aquiline face.

"People say I haven't changed since I carne here. I was sixteen then. But life goes on the same, year after year."

--

55. Liāu-lí tiàm koh-lâi boeh án-nóa? | 料理店閣來欲 án-nóa?

55. Liāu-lí tiàm koh-lâi boeh án-nóa?

"Cha-po͘-lâng? Kám ū gō͘-ê?"

"Hēⁿ ah." Komako chhiò-chhiò kóng. Hut-jiân koh oa̍t-thâu, kóng:

"A-chí sī chi̍t-ê núi-chiáⁿ ê lâng. Núi siô-siô neh."

"Án-ne mā bô hoat-tō͘."

"Tō sī án-ne ah. Nā hông kah-ì tio̍h, boeh án-nóa hó?"

Yi án-ne kóng, koh ná àⁿ thâu ná iōng thâu-chiam jiàu thâu-khak:

"Kin-á-ji̍t kā sàng, sim-koaⁿ chìn kan-khó͘."

"Hit-keng liāu-lí tiàm koh-lâi boeh án-nóa?"

"Iû hit-lâng ê tōa-bó͘ lâi chò."

"Chiâⁿ chhù-bī, tōa-bó͘ keng-êng sè-î ê tiàm."

"Tō sī mah. Khui-tiàm ê tāi-chì lóng khoán hó-sè ah. Bô án-ne mā bô hoat-tō͘ ah. Gín-á lóng tòe leh, tōa-bó͘ í-keng sóa kòe-lâi ah."

"Pún-lâi ê chhù boeh án-nóa?"

"Thiaⁿ-kóng, lâu hō͘ ta-ke khì kò͘. Hit-lâng sui-jiân sī chng-kha lâng, m̄-koh i ū ka-tī kah-ì ê tāi-chì. Sī chi̍t-ê chiâⁿ chhù-bī ê lâng."

"Lōng-liú-lian ê lâng neh. Í-keng ū hòe-thâu ah hioh?"

"Iáu siàu-liân. Kan-ta saⁿ-cha̍p jī/saⁿ."

"Eh, nā án-ne, sè-î khah chē-hòe tōa-bó͘, hoⁿh?"

"Tâng-nî lah, lóng jī-cha̍p-chhit neh."

"Kikumura káⁿ sī ùi Kikuyu ê Kiku khì hō-miâ ê. Tōa-bó͘ koh án-ne kā chiap kòe-lâi chò."

"Khan-páng í-keng kòa chhut-khì, boeh koh kái ká-ná mā bô sáⁿ hó."

Shimamura kā saⁿ-á-niá khiú khah óa chi̍t-ē. Komako khì kā thang-á-mûi koaiⁿ khí-lâi.

"A-chí tùi lí mā chìn liáu-kái. Kin-á-ji̍t lí lâi, yi ū kóng khí."

"Yi lâi kò-sî, góa sī tī siàu-pâng tú tio̍h yi."

"Ū kóng sáⁿ bô?"

"Sáⁿ to bô kóng."

"Lí liáu-kái góa ê sim-chêng bô?" Komako koh khì kā tú-chiah koaiⁿ hó ê chóa-thang-á phah-khui, koh hiông-hiông tī thang-á tâi chē lo̍h-lâi.

--

55. 料理店閣來欲 án-nóa?

"查埔人? 敢有五个?"

"Hēⁿ ah." Komako 笑笑講. 忽然 koh 越頭, 講:

"阿姊是一个 núi 汫 ê 人. Núi siô-siô neh."

"Án-ne mā 無法度."

"Tō 是 án-ne ah. 若 hông 佮意著, 欲 án-nóa 好?"

她 án-ne 講, koh ná àⁿ 頭 ná 用頭簪 jiàu 頭殼:

"今仔日 kā 送, 心肝晉艱苦."

"彼間料理店閣來欲 án-nóa?"

"由彼人 ê 大某來做."

"誠趣味, 大某經營細姨 ê 店."

"Tō 是 mah. 開店 ê 代誌攏款好勢 ah. 無 án-ne mā 無法度 ah. 囡仔攏綴 leh, 大某已經徙過來 ah."

"本來 ê 厝欲 án-nóa?"

"聽講, 留予 ta-ke 去顧. 彼人雖然是庄跤人, 毋過伊有家治佮意 ê 代誌. 是一个誠趣味 ê 人."

"浪 liú-lian ê 人 neh. 已經有歲頭 ah hioh?"

"猶少年. 干焦三十二三."

"Eh, 若 án-ne, 細姨較濟歲大某, hoⁿh?"

"同年 lah, 攏二十七 neh."

"Kikumura káⁿ 是 ùi Kikuyu ê Kiku 去號名 ê. 大某 koh án-ne kā 接過來做."

"Khan-páng 已經掛出去, 欲 koh 改 ká-ná mā 無啥好."

Shimamura kā 衫仔領搝較倚一下. Komako 去 kā 窗仔 mûi 關起來.

"阿姊對你 mā 晉了解. 今仔日你來, 她有講起."

"她來告辭, 我是 tī 數房拄著她."

"有講啥無?"

"啥 to 無講."

"你了解我 ê 心情無?" Komako koh 去 kā 拄才關好 ê 紙窗仔拍開, koh 雄雄 tī 窗仔台坐落來.

--

55.

"Men? How many? Five or so?"

"I wonder." Komako laughed softly and turned away. "Kikuyu was weak. A weakling."

"Maybe there was nothing else she could do."

"But isn't it so? You can't go losing your head over every man that likes you." Her eyes were on the floor, and she was stroking her hair meditatively with a hair ornament. "It wasn't easy, seeing her off."

"And what happened to the restaurant?"

"The wife of the man who built it has taken it over."

"An interesting situation. The wife managing the mistress's restaurant."

"But what else could they do? The place was ready to open, and the wife moved in with all her children."

"What about her own house?"

"They left the old woman to take care of it, 1 hear. The man's a farmer, but he likes to have his fun. He's a very interesting fellow."

"So it would seem. Is he well along in years?"

"He's young. No more than thirty-one or thirty-two."

"The mistress must be older than the wife, then."

"They're both twenty-six."

"The 'Kiku' of 'Kikumura' would be from 'Kikuyu.' And the wife took over the name even?" 

"But they couldn't change the name once it was advertised."

Shimamura straightened the collar of his kimono. Komako got up to close the window. "Kikuyu knew all about you. She told me today you were here."

"I saw her down in the office when she came to say good-by."

"Did she say anything to you?"

"Not a thing."

"Do you know how I feel?" Komako threw open the window she had just shut, and sat down on the sill as if she meant to throw herself out.

--

54. Lí sī chi̍t-nî lâi chi̍t-kái hit-chióng lâng | 你是一年來一改彼種人

54. Lí sī chi̍t-nî lâi chi̍t-kái hit-chióng lâng

I ê kha-thâu-u ū chi̍t-chūn sio-sio tâm-tâm ê kám-kak.

"Siàu-pâng ê lâng kún-chhiò kā góa kóng, 'Komako, khì Tê-hoe Pâng khòaⁿ-māi.' Góa thó-ià in án-ne kún-chhiò. Sàng A-chí chē hóe-chhia liáu-āu, pún-chiâⁿ siūⁿ boeh túiⁿ hó-hó khùn chi̍t-ē, m̄-koh in kóng chia ū khà-tiān-ōe kòe. Í-keng thiám kah, góa chìn bô siūⁿ boeh lâi. Cha-àm tī A-chí ê sàng-pia̍t-hōe lim siuⁿ chē. Siàu-pâng ê lâng ti̍t-ti̍t chhiò góa, goân-lâi sī lí lâi ah. Í-keng chi̍t-nî ah. Lí sī chi̍t-nî chiah lâi chi̍t-kái hit-chióng lâng hioh?"

"Góa mā ū chia̍h hit-lō âng-tāu-môa-chî."

"Sī oh?" Komako chē thêng, tú-chiah bīn teh tī Shimamura kha-thâu-u ê ūi âng-âng chi̍t-jiah. Bīn iáu sī gín-á khoán.

Yi kóng, yi sàng hit-ê tiong-liân gē-tòaⁿ kòe nn̄g-chām chiah tò-tún lâi.

"Chìn bô-liâu. Í-chêng bô-lūn chò sáⁿ lóng ti̍t-lí-ti̍t-lō͘, chiām-chiām kò-jîn-chú-gī taⁿ-thâu, sûi-lâng kò͘ ka-tī. Chia mā piàn chìn chē. kò-sèng bē-ha̍h ê lâng lú lâi lú chē. Kikuyu (菊勇) chí bô tī chia, góa tō ko͘-toaⁿ ah. Kòe-khì sū-sū lóng yi tiāⁿ-tio̍h. Yi siāng âng, m̄-bat chió kòe la̍k-pah-ki [tíam hiuⁿ kè-sî sùiⁿ siàu]. Tiàm lih mā siāng chù-tiōng yi."

"Hit-ê Kikuyu nî-hān kàu, túiⁿ khì, sī boeh kiat-hun, a̍h-sī boeh kè-sio̍k chò chit-tô͘?" Shimamura mūi.

"A-chí chit-ê lâng chìn khó-liân. Chá-chêng ê hun-in sit-pāi chiah lâi chia." Komako kóng kàu chia tiû-tî chi̍t-ē, gia̍h ba̍k khòaⁿ goe̍h-kuiⁿ ē ê phiâⁿ-á chhân, chiah koh kóng:

"Hit-pêng siâ-pho pòaⁿ-lō͘ ū chi̍t-keng sin khí ê chhù, ū bô?"

"Lí sī kóng hit-keng kiò Kikumura (菊村) ê liāu-lí tiàm?"

"Tio̍h. A-chí pún-lâi boeh kè khì hit-keng tiàm, āu-lâi kái-piàn sim-ì. Tāi-chì pìⁿ kah chiâⁿ loān. Lâng hó-sim ūi yi khí chi̍t-keng chhù, kàu boeh kè-chhōa ê sî, yi kā lâng that-khui. In-ūi yi kah-ì tio̍h pa̍t-lâng, koh siūⁿ boeh hām hit-lâng kiat-hun. M̄-koh, khì hông phiàn khì. Nā hông bê kah ná bîn-bāng, káⁿ lóng ē án-ne lah, hoⁿh? Thiaⁿ-kóng tùi-hong í-keng cháu-lō͘, taⁿ yi pháiⁿ-sè koh hôe-thâu, kóng boeh ài hit-keng tiàm, mā bô hoat-tō͘ lâu tī chia, ko͘-put-chiang tō khì pa̍t-ūi chò. Siūⁿ tio̍h sī khó-liân. Sui-jiân goán chai bô chē, yi khak-si̍t bat tú kòe kok-chióng lâng."

--

54. 你是一年來一改彼種人

伊 ê 跤頭趺有一陣燒燒澹澹 ê 感覺.

"數房 ê 人滾笑 kā 我講, 'Komako, 去茶花房看覓.' 我討厭 in án-ne 滾笑. 送阿姊坐火車了後, 本成想欲 túiⁿ 好好睏一下, 毋過 in 講遮有敲電話過. 已經忝 kah, 我晉無想欲來. 昨暗 tī 阿姊 ê 送別會啉傷濟. 數房 ê 人直直笑我, 原來是你來 ah. 已經一年 ah. 你是一年才來一改彼種人 hioh?"

"我 mā 有食 hit-lō 紅豆麻糍."

"是 oh?" Komako 坐騰, 拄才面硩 tī Shimamura 跤頭趺 ê 位紅紅一跡. 面猶是囡仔款.

她講, 她送彼个中年藝旦過兩站才倒 tún 來.

"晉無聊. 以前無論做啥攏直理直路, 漸漸個人主義 taⁿ 頭, 隨人顧家治. 遮 mā 變晉濟. 個性袂合 ê 人 lú 來 lú 濟. Kikuyu (菊勇) 姊無 tī 遮, 我 tō 孤單 ah. 過去事事攏她定著. 她上紅, m̄-bat 少過六百支 [點香計時 sùiⁿ 數]. 店 lih mā 上注重她."

"彼个 Kikuyu 年限到, túiⁿ 去, 是欲結婚, 抑是欲繼續做這途?" Shimamura mūi.

"阿姊這个人晉可憐. 早前 ê 婚姻失敗才來遮." Komako 講到遮躊 tî 一下, 攑目看月 kuiⁿ 下 ê 坪仔田, 才 koh 講:

"彼爿斜坡半路有一間新起 ê 厝, 有無?"

"你是講彼間叫 Kikumura (菊村) ê 料理店?"

"著. 阿姊本來欲嫁去彼間店, 後來改變心意. 代誌 pìⁿ kah 誠亂. 人好心為她起一間厝, 到欲嫁娶 ê 時, 她 kā 人踢開. 因為她佮意著別人, koh 想欲和彼人結婚. 毋過, 去 hông 騙去. 若 hông 迷 kah ná 眠夢, káⁿ 攏會 án-ne lah, hoⁿh? 聽講對方已經走路, 今她歹勢 koh 回頭, 講欲愛彼間店, mā 無法度留 tī 遮, 姑不 chiang tō 去別位做. 想著是可憐. 雖然阮知無濟, 她確實 bat 拄過各種人."

--

54.

He felt something warm and damp on his knee.

" 'Komako, go on up and look in the Camellia Room,' they said in the office, very pleased with themselves. I don't like that way they have. I'd been to see Kikuyu off, and I was just ready for a good nap when someone said there had been a call from here. I didn't feel like coming. I had too much to drink last night at Kikuyu's farewell party. They only laughed down in the office and wouldn't tell me who was here. And it was you. It's been a whole year. You're the sort that comes only once a year?"

"I had one of the cakes she left."

"You did?" Komako sat up. Her face was red where it had been pressed against his knee. She seemed very young.

She had seen the old geisha Kikuyu to the second station down the line, she said. 

"It's very sad. We used to be able to work things out together, but now it's every geisha for herself. The place has changed. New geisha come in and no one gets along with anyone else. I'll be lonesome without Kikuyu. She was at the center of everything. And she made more money than any of the rest of us. Her people took very good care of her."

Kikuyu had worked out her contract, and she was going home. Would she get married or would she open an inn or restaurant of her own? Shimamura asked.

"Kikuyu is a very sad case. She made a bad marriage, and she came here afterwards." Komako was silent for a time, evidently unsure how much she should tell. She looked out toward the slope below the terraced fields, bright in the moonlight. "You know the new house halfway up the hill?"

"The restaurant-the Kikumura, is it called?" "That's the one. Kikuyu was supposed to manage the Kikurnura, but at the last minute she had a change of heart. It caused all sorts of excitement. She had a patron build the place for her, and then, when she was all ready to move in, she threw it over. She found someone she liked and was going to marry him, but he ran off and left her. Is that what happens when you lose your head over a man? I wonder. She can't very well go back to her old work, and she can't take over the restaurant now that she's turned it down, and she's ashamed to stay here after all that's happened. There's nothing for her to do but start over somewhere else. It makes me very sad to think about Kikuyu. There were all sorts of people-but of course we don't really know the details."

--

53. Chin-chē ū-si̍t ê iù-thâng-á | 真濟有翼 ê 幼蟲仔

53. Chin-chē ū-si̍t ê iù-thâng-á

Chit-chng ê kòe-nî sī jī-goe̍h chhe-it, só͘-í ū tiū-chháu-soh. Chū án-ne, gín-á sio-cheⁿ peh chiūⁿ lé-tn̂g ê chhù-téng, e-e-kheh-kheh tī hia chhiùⁿ kóaⁿ-chiáu koa. Liáu-āu, koh ji̍p-khì lé-tn̂g lih, tiám teng-hóe, tī hia keh-mê, it-ti̍t kàu thiⁿ-kuiⁿ. Tī cha̍p-gō͘ hit-kang thiⁿ tú kuiⁿ ê sî, in koh chi̍t-kái tī lé-tn̂g ê chhù-téng chhiùⁿ kóaⁿ-chiáu koa.

Hit-sî sī seh chek kah siāng kāu ê sî-chūn, Shimamura ū hām Komako iak-sok, kóng boeh lâi khòaⁿ kóaⁿ-chiáu cheh. 

"Jī-goe̍h góa túiⁿ pún-ke hiu-ká. Siūⁿ-kóng lí it-tēng ē lâi, chiah tī cha̍p-sì hit-ji̍t kóaⁿ tún lâi. Boeh-chai, góa ē-sái tiàm hia ke kā chiàu-kò͘--kúi-kang."

"Sáng phòa-pēⁿ hioh?"

"Goán sai-hū túiⁿ káng-khu liáu, tit-tio̍h hì-iām. Tú hó góa mā túiⁿ hia, chiap-tio̍h tiān-pò, góa tō khì kā chiàu-kò͘ ah."

"Ū hó khí-lâi bô?"

"Bô."

"Án-ne chìn hāi." Shimamura ká-ná in-ūi sit-iak tih hōe-sit-lé, mā ká-ná in-ūi sai-hū ê sí tih piáu-sī ai-tō.

"Hmh." Komako sûi khin-khin iô-thâu, the̍h chhiú-kin-á chhit toh-á:

"Thâng chiâⁿ kāu."

Ùi kē-toh-á téng chē-chē ū-si̍t ê iù-thâng-á lak lo̍h tatami. Kúi-chiah sè-chiah ia̍h-á ûi tī tiān-hóe poe-lâi poe-khì.

Kúi-ā khoán sùiⁿ bē chheng ê lah-sap ia̍h-á chi̍t-tiám chi̍t-tiám thêng tī thih-se-thang gōa, phû-hiān tī bêng-liāng ê goe̍h-kuiⁿ ē.

"Ūi thiàⁿ, ūi thiàⁿ." Komako hut-jiân siang-chhiú chhah-ji̍p io-tòa, phak tī Shimamura ê kha-thâu-u.

Yi he pe̍h-hún boah kāu-kāu ê ām-kún āu-niā, chi̍t-ē-á tō ū khah sè lah-sap ia̍h-á ê poe-thâng lak tī hia. Ū-ê khòaⁿ tio̍h ê tiong-kan tō sí khì ah, bē tín-tāng.

He ām-kún pí kū-nî khah chho͘, ū pûi-iû. Í-keng mā jī-it hòe ah, Shimamura sim-lāi án-ne siūⁿ.

--

53. 真濟有翼 ê 幼蟲仔

這庄 ê 過年是二月初一, 所以有稻草索. 自 án-ne, 囡仔相爭 peh 上禮堂 ê 厝頂, e-e-kheh-kheh tī 遐唱趕鳥歌. 了後, koh 入去禮堂 lih, 點燈火, tī 遐隔暝, 一直到天 kuiⁿ. Tī 十五彼工天拄 kuiⁿ ê 時, in koh 一改 tī 禮堂 ê 厝頂唱趕鳥歌.

彼時是雪積 kah 上厚 ê 時陣, Shimamura 有和 Komako iak 束, 講欲來看趕鳥節. 

"二月我 túiⁿ 本家休假. 想講你一定會來, 才 tī 十四彼日趕 tún 來. 欲知, 我會使踮遐加 kā 照顧幾工."

"Sáng 破病 hioh?"

"阮師傅 túiⁿ 港區了, 得著肺炎. 拄好我 mā túiⁿ 遐, 接著電報, 我 tō 去 kā 照顧 ah."

"有好起來無?"

"無."

"Án-ne 晉害." Shimamura ká-ná 因為失 iak tih 會失禮, mā ká-ná 因為師傅 ê 死 tih 表示哀悼.

"Hmh." Komako 隨輕輕搖頭, 提手巾仔拭桌仔:

"蟲誠厚."

Ùi 低桌仔頂濟濟有翼 ê 幼蟲仔 lak 落 tatami. 幾隻細隻蝶仔圍 tī 電火飛來飛去.

幾 ā 款 sùiⁿ 袂清 ê 垃圾蝶仔一點一點停 tī 鐵紗窗外, 浮現 tī 明亮 ê 月 kuiⁿ 下.

"胃疼, 胃疼." Komako 忽然雙手插入腰帶, 仆 tī Shimamura ê 跤頭趺.

她彼白粉抹厚厚 ê 頷頸後陵, 一下仔 tō 有較細垃圾蝶仔 ê 飛蟲 lak tī 遐. 有 ê 看著 ê 中間 tō 死去 ah, 袂振動.

He 頷頸比舊年較粗, 有肥油. 已經 mā 二一歲 ah, Shimamura 心內 án-ne 想.

--

53.

Since the New Year was celebrated here early in February, the traditional straw ropes were still strung up over the village doorways. On the fourteenth the children gathered the ropes and burned them in a red bonfire before the snow palace. They pushed and jostled one another on the roof and sang the bird-chasing song, and afterwards, setting out lights, they spent the night in the palace. At dawn on the fifteenth they again climbed to the roof to sing the bird-chasing song.

It was then that the snow was deepest, and Shimamura had told Komako he would come for the festival.

"I was at home in February. I took a vacation. I was sure you would be here on the fourteenth, and I came back especially. I could have stayed to take care of her longer if I had known."

"Was someone ill?"

"The music teacher. She had pneumonia down on the coast. The telegram came when I was at home, and I went down to take care of her."

"Did she get better?"

"No."

"I'm sorry." Shimamura's words could have

been either an expression of sympathy or an apology for the broken promise.

Komako shook her head mildly, and wiped at the table with her handkerchief. "The place is alive with insects." A swarm of tiny winged insects fell from the table to the floor. Several small moths were circling the light.

Moths, how many kinds he could not tell, dotted the screen, floating on the clear moonlight. "My stomach aches." Komako thrust both hands tight inside her obi, and her head fell to Shimamura's knee. "My stomach aches."

Insects smaller than moths gathered on the thick white powder at her neck. Some of them died there as Shimamura watched.

The flesh on her neck and shoulders was richer than it had been the year before. She is just twenty, he told himself.

--

52. Kóaⁿ-chiáu-cheh lí bô lâi | 趕鳥節你無來

52. Kóaⁿ-chiáu-cheh lí bô lâi

M̄-koh, khah kīn khòaⁿ he hm̂-á ê ki-kut chho͘-chho͘, hām hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ khòaⁿ soaⁿ-téng he hō͘ lâng kám-siang ê hoe, oân-choân bô kāng-khoán. Kui tōa khún ê chháu-pé kiâng boeh cha̍h kah bô khòaⁿ-e phāiⁿ i ê cha-bó͘-lâng ê hûn-su, kiâⁿ ê sî chhè tio̍h siâ-pho nn̄g-pêng ê chio̍h-piah, koh ū si-si sā-sā ê siaⁿ. He sūi chám-jiân-á cha̍t-chiⁿ.

Túiⁿ kàu pâng-keng, tī keh-piah tiám cha̍p-chek teng-hóe ê àm-hun pâng-keng lih, khòaⁿ tio̍h hit-chiah tōa-kho͘ ia̍h-á pàng-nūi tī o͘-chhat ê saⁿ-á-kè, koh poe cháu. Gîm-chîⁿ ê ia̍h-á mā phi-phi-pho̍k-pho̍k tih phah khòaⁿ-súi ê kòa-teng.

Ji̍t-sî tō kui-kang lóng ū thâng ê siaⁿ tih kiò.

Komako khah òaⁿ chiah lâi kàu-ūi.

Yi khiā tī cháu-lông lia̍h i kim-kim siàng.

"Lí lâi chia chhòng sáⁿ? Lí lâi chit-khoán só͘-chāi boeh chhòng sáⁿ?"

"Lâi khòaⁿ lí."

"Che m̄-sī chin-sim ê ōe. Tokyo-lâng ài pe̍h-chha̍t, chìn thó-ià."

Kóng liáu, yi ná chē lo̍h-lâi, siaⁿ-im pàng khah jiû-núi, koh kóng:

"Góa m̄ koh sàng lí lī-khui ah. Hit-chióng sim-chêng m̄-chai án-nóa kóng hó."

"Ah, chit-kái góa tō mài kóng, tiām-tiām túiⁿ."

"M̄-sī lah. Góa sī kóng m̄ sàng lí khì chhia-thâu."

"Hit-ê lâng āu-lâi án-nóa ah?"

"Iáu ū sáⁿ? kiat-kio̍k tō sī sí."

"Sī tī lí lâi sàng góa hit tiong-kan?"

"M̄-koh, he sī lēng-gōa chi̍t-hôe sū. Góa bô siūⁿ tio̍h, sio-sàng ē hiah-nī kan-khó͘."

"Hmh."

"Lí jī-goe̍h cha̍p-sì sī án-nóa ah? Phiàn--lâng. Hāi góa tán chiâⁿ kú. Í-āu lí kóng sáⁿ, góa lóng m̄-káⁿ sìn."

Jī-goe̍h cha̍p-sì sī Kóaⁿ-chiáu Cheh. Che sī Seh-kok gín-á ta̍k-nî kí-hêng ê cheh-ji̍t. Cha̍p-kang chêng, chng lih ê gín-á tō chhēng chháu-ê khì kā seh ta̍h cha̍t, kā chhiat chò nn̄g-chhioh pêng-hong ê seh-pang, kā tha̍h koân, khí chi̍t-keng seh ê lé-tn̂g. Seh ê lé-tn̂g tōa-sè tn̄g-peh sù-hong, koân tn̄g thóng. Cha̍p-sì hit-àm, kā ùi ke-ke hō͘-hō͘ siu-chi̍p ê [kòe-nî kòa tī mûi-chêng ê] tiū-chháu-soh tui tī lé-tn̂g thâu-chêng, kā sio kah hōng-hōng-kiò.

--

52. 趕鳥節你無來

毋過, 較近看彼茅仔 ê 枝骨粗粗, 和 hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ 看山頂 he 予人感 siang ê 花, 完全無仝款. 規大捆 ê 草把 kiâng 欲閘 kah 無看 e 揹伊 ê 查某人 ê 魂軀, 行 ê 時 chhè 著斜坡兩爿 ê 石壁, koh 有 si-si sā-sā ê 聲. 彼穗嶄然仔 cha̍t-chiⁿ.

Túiⁿ 到房間, tī 隔壁點十燭燈火 ê 暗分房間 lih, 看著彼隻大箍蝶仔放 nūi tī 烏漆 ê 衫仔架, koh 飛走. 砛簷 ê 蝶仔 mā phi-phi-pho̍k-pho̍k tih 拍看媠 ê 掛燈.

日時 tō 規工攏有蟲 ê 聲 tih 叫.

Komako 較晏才來到位.

她徛 tī 走廊掠伊金金相.

"你來遮創啥? 你來這款所在欲創啥?"

"來看你."

"這毋是真心 ê 話. Tokyo 人愛白賊, 晉討厭."

講了, 她 ná 坐落來, 聲音放較柔 núi, koh 講:

"我毋 koh 送你離開 ah. 彼種心情毋知 án-nóa 講好."

"Ah, 這改我 tō 莫講, 恬恬 túiⁿ."

"毋是 lah. 我是講毋送你去車頭."

"彼个人後來 án-nóa ah?"

"猶有啥? 結局 tō 是死."

"是 tī 你來送我 hit 中間?"

"毋過, 彼是另外一回事. 我無想著, 相送 ē hiah-nī 艱苦."

"Hmh."

"你二月十四是 án-nóa ah? 騙人. 害我等誠久. 以後你講啥, 我攏毋敢信."

二月十四是趕鳥節. 這是雪國囡仔逐年舉行 ê 節日. 十工前, 庄 lih ê 囡仔 tō 穿草鞋去 kā 雪踏 cha̍t, kā 切做兩尺平方 ê 雪枋, kā 疊懸, 起一間雪 ê 禮堂. 雪 ê 禮堂大細丈八四方, 懸丈捅. 十四彼暗, kā ùi 家家戶戶收集 ê [過年掛 tī mûi 前 ê] 稻草索堆 tī 禮堂頭前, kā 燒 kah hōng-hōng 叫.

--

52.

But the great strands he saw here seemed quite different in nature from the grasses that had so moved him. The large bundles hid the women carrying them, and rustled against the rocks that flanked the path. And the plumes were long and powerful.

Under the dim light in the dressing-room, Shimamura could see that the large-bodied moth was laying eggs along the black lacquer of the clothes-frame. Moths were beating at the lantern under the eaves.

There was a steady humming of autumn insects, as there had been from before sundown.

Komako was a little late.

She gazed in at him from the hall.

"Why have you come here? Why have you come to a place like this?"

"I've come to see you."

"You don't mean that. I dislike people from Tokyo because they're always lying." She sat down, and her voice was softer. "I'm never going to see anyone off again. I can't describe how it felt to see you off."

"This time I'll go without telling you."

"No. I mean I won't go to the station again." "What happened to him?"

"He died, of course."

"While you were seeing me off?"

"But that's not the reason. I had no idea I could

hate so to see someone off." Shimamura nodded.

"Where were you on the fourteenth of February? I was waiting for you. But I'll know better than to believe you next time."

The fourteenth of February was the "bird-chasing festival," a children's festival that had in it the spirit of this snow country. For ten days before the festival the children of the village tramped down the snow with straw boots, and presently, cutting the now boardlike snow into two-foot cubes, they built a snow palace some six yards square and more than ten feet high. 

--

51. Hm̂-á hoe khui kah pe̍h bâng-bâng | 茅仔花開 kah 白茫茫

51. Hm̂-á hoe khui kah pe̍h bâng-bâng

Goân-lâi, yi sī chhu-seh-tiûⁿ kóng-kò siá-chin lāi-té, chhēng iàn-hōe-ho̍k tha̍h seh-khò͘, hām Komako chē tī chhu-seh-pang ê hit-ê bīn-se̍k ê gē-tòaⁿ, sī chi̍t-ê ū nî-hòe, tōa-kho͘-pé koh tōa-pān ê cha-bó͘.

Kheh-chàn thâu-ke iōng hóe-ngeh tī lô͘-á-téng hang tn̂g-ti-îⁿ ê âng-tāu môa-chî.

"Che, chia̍h chi̍t-tè khòaⁿ-māi. Che sī pān hí-sū ê, lí chia̍h chi̍t-chhùi khòaⁿ-māi."

"Tú-chiah hit-ê í-keng lī-chit ah?"

"Tio̍h."

"Yi sī chìn hó ê gē-tòaⁿ neh."

"Ha̍p-iak kî-hān kàu ah, yi lâi kò-sî. Kòe-khì chìn âng, m̄-koh..."

Shimamura the̍h chi̍t-lia̍p sio-thǹg-thǹg ê môa-chî, ná pûn, ná kā chi̍t-chhùi, sió-khóa suiⁿ-suiⁿ, tēng phôe koh ū phú hiàn.

Thang-á-mûi gōa-kháu, hông-hun ê ji̍t-thâu chiò tio̍h í-keng se̍k ê âng-khī, koh thàng ji̍p-lâi chiò tio̍h chū-chāi-kau* (自在鉤) ê tek-kóng. [* 自在鉤: hóe-lô͘ téng-koân, iōng lâi kòa oe-á, ū tek-pèⁿ ê thih kau-á.] 

"Hiah tn̂g, he káⁿ sī koaⁿ-bang neh." Shimamura hòⁿ-kî khòaⁿ siâ-pho hit-pêng, ū chi̍t-ê lāu a-pô phāiⁿ chi̍t-khún chháu kiâⁿ kòe, chháu-khún ê tn̂g-tō͘ ū lâng ê nn̄g-pōe tn̂g. Hoe-sūi chin tn̂g.

"Sī ah, he sī hm̂-á."

"Sī hm̂-á? Hm̂-á hioh?"

"Thih-lō͘-kio̍k pān un-chôaⁿ tián-lám-hōe ê sî, ū khí chi̍t-keng hiu-sek-sit a̍h tê-sit, he chhù-téng tō sī khàm chāi-tē ê hm̂-á. Thiaⁿ-kóng ū Tokyo lâi ê lâng, kā kui-keng tê-sit lóng bé khí-lâi."

"Sī hm̂-á hoⁿh?" Shimamura koh chi̍t-pái ka-tī án-ne nauh:

"Kui soaⁿ-téng lóng khui hm̂-á hoe, góa siūⁿ-kóng he sī koaⁿ-chin ê hoe."

Shimamura tú lo̍h hóe-chhia, ba̍k-chiu thōng tāi-seng khòaⁿ tio̍h ê, tō sī chit-lō soaⁿ-téng ê hoe. tī kiā soaⁿ-phiâⁿ téng-bīn, kui-phiàn khui kah sì-kè pe̍h bâng-bâng. tō ná-chhiūⁿ chhiu-thiⁿ ê ji̍t-thâu-kuiⁿ chhiō tī soaⁿ-phiâⁿ. Ah! i ê sim-chêng siū tio̍h kám-jiám, kā he tòng-chò sī koaⁿ-chin ê hoe.

--

51. 茅仔花開 kah 白茫茫

原來, 她是趨雪場廣告寫真內底, 穿宴會服疊雪褲, 和 Komako 坐 tī 趨雪枋 ê 彼个面熟 ê 藝旦, 是一个有年歲, 大箍把 koh 大範 ê 查某.

客棧頭家用火 ngeh tī 爐仔頂烘長 ti 圓 ê 紅豆麻糍.

"這, 食一塊看覓. 這是辦喜事 ê, 你食一喙看覓."

"拄才彼个已經離職 ah?"

"著."

"她是晉好 ê 藝旦 neh."

"合 iak 期限到 ah, 她來告辭. 過去晉紅, 毋過..."

Shimamura 提一粒燒燙燙 ê 麻糍, ná 歕, ná 咬一喙, 小可 suiⁿ-suiⁿ, tēng 皮 koh 有殕羶.

窗仔 mûi 外口, 黃昏 ê 日頭照著已經熟 ê 紅柿, koh 迵入來照著 chū-chāi-kau* (自在鉤) ê tek-kóng. [* 自在鉤: 火爐頂懸, 用來掛鍋仔, 有竹柄 ê 鐵勾仔.] 

"Hiah 長, 彼 káⁿ 是菅 bang neh." Shimamura 好奇看斜坡彼爿, 有一个老阿婆揹一捆草行過, 草捆 ê 長度有人 ê 兩倍長. 花穗真長.

"是 ah, 彼是茅仔."

"是茅仔? 茅仔 hioh?"

"鐵路局辦溫泉展覽會 ê 時, 有起一間休息 sit a̍h 茶 sit, he 厝頂 tō 是崁在地 ê 茅仔. 聽講有 Tokyo 來 ê 人, kā 規間茶 sit 攏買起來."

"是茅仔 hoⁿh?" Shimamura koh 一擺家治 án-ne nauh:

"規山頂攏開茅仔花, 我想講彼是菅蓁 ê 花."

Shimamura 拄落火車, 目睭 thōng 代先看著 ê, tō 是 chit-lō 山頂 ê 花. tī 崎山坪頂面, 規遍開 kah 四界白茫茫. tō ná 像秋天 ê 日頭 kuiⁿ 炤 tī 山坪. Ah! 伊 ê 心情受著感染, kā he 當做是菅蓁 ê 花.

--

51.

She was a geisha Shimamura remembered having seen with Komako in an advertising photograph, the two of them on skis with cotton "mountain trousers" pulled over party kimonos. She seemed to be well along in years, plump and to all appearances good-natured.

The innkeeper was warming thick, oblong cakes over the embers.

"Won't you have one?" he asked Shimamura. "You really must have one. The geisha you saw brought them to celebrate the end of her term."

"She's leaving, is she?"

"Yes."

"She looks like a good sort."

"She was very popular. Today she's going the rounds to say good-by."

Shimamura blew on the cake and bit into it.

The hard crust, a little sour, gave off a musty smell.

Outside the window, the bright red of ripe persimmons was bathed in the evening sun. It seemed to send out a red glow even to the bamboo of the pothook over the hearth.

"See how long they are." Shimamura looked out in astonishment at the steep path, down which old women were trudging with bundles of autumn grass on their backs. The grass looked to be twice the height of the women, and the tassels were long and powerful.

"It's kaya grass."

"Kaya, is it?"

"The government railways built a sort of restroom, I suppose you would call it, for their hot-spring exhibit, and they thatched the teahouse with kaya from these mountains. Someone in Tokyo bought it exactly as it was."

"Kaya, is it," Shimamura repeated, half to himself. "It's kaya then on the mountain? I thought it must be a flower of some sort."

The first thing that had struck Shimamura's eye as he got off the train was that array of silver-white. High up the mountain, the kaya spread out silver in the sun, like the autumn sunlight itself pouring over the face of the mountain. Ah, I am here, something in Shimamura called out as he looked up at it.

--

50. Sī ia̍h-á seⁿ-nūi ê kùi-cheh | 是蝶仔生 nūi ê 季節

50. Sī ia̍h-á seⁿ-nūi ê kùi-cheh

Lī-khui Tokyo ê chhù ê sî, Shimamura in bó͘ ū kau-tài, kóng, taⁿ sī lah-sap ia̍h-á seⁿ-nūi ê kùi-cheh, sebíloh m̄-thang tiàu tī saⁿ-á-kè a̍h piah-téng. Lâi liáu-āu, kó-jiân khòaⁿ tio̍h tiàu tī kheh-pâng gîm-chîⁿ-kha khòaⁿ-súi ê teng-hóe, khîⁿ la̍k-chhit chiah hoan-be̍h-sek ê ia̍h-á. Keh-piah saⁿ-tè tatami hit keng ê saⁿ-á-kè, mā ū chi̍t-chiah khah sè, m̄-koh hûn-su pí-lē tōa ê ia̍h-á thêng tī hia.  

Joa̍h-thiⁿ iōng lâi cha̍h báng-thâng ê thih-se-thang iáu tàu tī thang-á-mûi. Chi̍t-chiah ia̍h-á ká-ná tah tī thih-se-thang téng, tiām-tiām bô tín-tāng. I he ná ú-mo͘ ê chhián-chang-sek chhiok-kak (觸角) chhun tn̂g-tn̂g, i ê si̍t sī thàu-bêng ê chhián-le̍k-sek, ū cha-bó͘-lâng chéng-thâu-á hiah tn̂g. Tùi-bīn pian-kài têng-têng-tha̍h-tha̍h ê soaⁿ, chiò tī hông-hun ji̍t-thâu ē, í-keng ū chhiu-thiⁿ ê sek-chhái, ia̍h-á ê chit-lō chhián-le̍k-sek tian-tò hō͘ lâng chi̍t-chióng sí-bông ê kám-kak. Kan-ta chêng si̍t hām āu-si̍t sio-tha̍h ê só͘-chāi sī khah chhim ê le̍k-sek. Chhiu-hong chhoe lâi, he si̍t tō ná po̍h chóa án-ne khin-khin iô-tāng.

Ia̍h-á kám sī oa̍h ê? Shimamura khiā khí-lâi, kiâⁿ kòe-khì, ùi thih-se-thang lāi-bīn iōng chéng-thâu-á kā tiak chi̍t-ē, ia̍h-á tāng to bô tāng. Koh iōng kûn-thâu-bó kā khok, i tō ná chi̍t-phìⁿ chhiū-hio̍h-á án-ne lak lo̍h, kàu pòaⁿ-lō͘ chiah khin-khin-á koh poe khí-lâi.

Chù-ì chi̍t-ē khòaⁿ, tùi-bīn sam-á-nâ thâu-chêng, gi̍p-gi̍p-gi̍p ê chhân-eⁿ tīn ná-chhiūⁿ pô͘-kong-eng ê jiông-mo͘ án-ne iāⁿ-iāⁿ poe.

Soaⁿ-kha ê hô ná-chhiūⁿ sī ùi sam-á ê chhiū-bóe lâu chhut-lâi ê.

Soaⁿ-lûn phiâⁿ ná-chhiūⁿ koaⁿ-chin ê hoe chi̍t-sì-kè khui kah pe̍h phāⁿ-phāⁿ, Shimamura khah khòaⁿ to bē ùi.

I ùi sit-lāi un-chôaⁿ chhut-lâi ê sî, khòaⁿ tio̍h chi̍t-ê Rusia cha-bó͘ hoàn-á chē tī mûi-kha-kháu. Ná ē lâi kàu chit-khoán chng-kha só͘-chāi? Shimamura kiâⁿ kòe kā khòaⁿ chi̍t-ē, chiâu sī Ji̍t-pún hòa-chong-phín a̍h thâu-chhah hit-lūi ê mi̍h.

Yi liāng-iak sì-cha̍p thóng, bīn sió-khóa jiâu koh lah-sap, m̄-koh ām-kún khòaⁿ ē-tio̍h ê ūi pe̍h-pe̍h koh bah-bah.

"Lí sī ùi tá-ūi lâi ê?" Shimamura mūi yi.

"Ùi tá-ūi lâi? Lí mūi góa sī ùi tá-ūi lâi?" Rusia cha-bó͘ m̄-chai án-nóa ìn hó, ná siu mi̍h-kiāⁿ, ná tih siūⁿ.

Yi ê kûn ná-chhiūⁿ ûi chi̍t-tè lah-sap pò͘, í-keng bô iûⁿ-chong ê khoán-sè. Yi ná-chhiūⁿ Ji̍t-pún-lâng án-ne, phāiⁿ chi̍t-ê tōa pau-ho̍k-á kiâⁿ túiⁿ khì. M̄-koh kha chhēng phôe-ê.

Siū tio̍h tâng-chê khòaⁿ Rusia cha-bó͘ lī-khui ê thâu-ke-niû ê iau-chhiáⁿ, Shimamura ji̍p-lâi siàu-pâng, khòaⁿ tio̍h chi̍t-ê tōa-chhāi cha-bó͘ chē tī hóe-lô͘ piⁿ, kha-chiah-āu ǹg i. Cha-bó͘ kā saⁿ-á-ki giú tio̍h, khiā khí-lâi. Yi chhēng ê sī ū ka-hoe (家徽) ê o͘ lé-ho̍k. 

--

50. 是蝶仔生 nūi ê 季節

離開 Tokyo ê 厝 ê 時, Shimamura in 某有交代, 講, 今是垃圾蝶仔生 nūi ê 季節, sebíloh 毋通吊 tī 衫仔架 a̍h 壁頂. 來了後, 果然看著吊 tī 客房砛簷跤看媠 ê 燈火, khîⁿ 六七隻番麥色 ê 蝶仔. 隔壁三塊 tatami 彼間 ê 衫仔架, mā 有一隻較細, 毋過魂軀比例大 ê 蝶仔停 tī 遐.  

熱天用來閘蠓蟲 ê 鐵紗窗猶鬥 tī 窗仔 mûi. 一隻蝶仔 ká-ná 貼 tī 鐵紗窗頂, 恬恬無振動. 伊彼 ná 羽毛 ê 淺棕色 chhiok-kak (觸角) 伸長長, 伊 ê 翼是透明 ê 淺綠色, 有查某人指頭仔 hiah 長. 對面邊界重重疊疊 ê 山, 照 tī 黃昏日頭下, 已經有秋天 ê 色彩, 蝶仔 ê chit-lō 淺綠色顛倒予人一種死亡 ê 感覺. 干焦前翼和後翼相疊 ê 所在是較深 ê 綠色. 秋風吹來, he 翼 tō ná 薄紙 án-ne 輕輕搖動.

蝶仔敢是活 ê? Shimamura 徛起來, 行過去, ùi 鐵紗窗內面用指頭仔 kā 擉一下, 蝶仔動 to 無動. Koh 用拳頭母 kā 硞, 伊 tō ná 一片樹葉仔 án-ne lak 落, 到半路才輕輕仔 koh 飛起來.

注意一下看, 對面杉仔林頭前, gi̍p-gi̍p-gi̍p ê 田嬰陣, ná 像蒲公英 ê 絨毛 án-ne 颺颺飛.

山跤 ê 河 ná 像是 ùi 杉仔 ê 樹尾流出來 ê.

山崙坪 ná 像菅蓁 ê 花, 一四界開 kah 白 phāⁿ-phāⁿ, Shimamura khah 看 to 袂畏.

伊 ùi sit 內溫泉出來 ê 時, 看著一个 Rusia 查某販仔坐 tī mûi 跤口. 那會來到這款庄跤所在? Shimamura 行過 kā 看一下, chiâu 是日本化妝品 a̍h 頭插彼類 ê 物.

她 liāng-iak 四十捅, 面小可皺 koh 垃圾, 毋過頷頸看會著 ê 位白白 koh 肉肉.

"你是 ùi tá 位來 ê?" Shimamura mūi 她.

"Ùi tá 位來? 你 mūi 我是 ùi tá 位來?" Rusia 查某毋知 án-nóa 應好, ná 收物件, ná tih 想.

她 ê 裙 ná 像圍一塊垃圾布, 已經無洋裝 ê 款勢. 她 ná 像日本人 án-ne, 揹一个大包袱仔行 túiⁿ 去. 毋過跤穿皮鞋.

受著同齊看 Rusia 查某離開 ê 頭家娘 ê 邀請, Shimamura 入來數房, 看著一个大 chhāi 查某坐 tī 火爐邊, 尻脊後 ǹg 伊. 查某 kā 衫仔裾搝著, 徛起來. 她穿 ê 是有 ka-hoe (家徽) ê 烏禮服. 

--

50.

It was the egg-laying season for moths, Shimamura's wife told him as he left Tokyo, and he was not to leave his clothes hanging in the open. There were indeed moths at the inn. Five or six large corn-colored moths clung to the decorative lantern under the eaves, and in the little dressing-room was a moth whose body was large out of all proportion to its wings. The windows were still screened from the summer. A moth so still that it might have been glued there clung to one of the screens. Its feelers stood out like delicate wool, the color of cedar bark, and its wings, the length of a woman's finger, were a pale, almost diaphanous green. The ranges of mountains beyond were already autumn-red in the evening sun. That one spot of pale green struck him as oddly like the color of death. The fore and after wings overlapped to make a deeper green, and the wings fluttered like thin pieces of paper in the autumn wind.

Wondering if the moth was alive, Shimamura went over to the window and rubbed his finger over the inside of the screen. The moth did not move. He struck at it with his fist, and it fell like a leaf from a tree, floating lightly up midway to the ground.

In front of the cedar grove opposite, dragonflies were bobbing about in countless swarms, like dan­ delion floss in the wind.

The river seemed to flow from the tips of the cedar branches.

He thought he would never tire of looking at the autumn flowers that spread a blanket of silver up the side of the mountain.

A White-Russian woman, a peddler, was sitting in the hallway when he came out of the bath. So you find them even in these mountains- He went for a closer look.

She appeared to be in her forties. Her face was wrinkled and dirty, but her skin, where it showed at the full throat and beyond, was a pure, glowing white.

"Where are you from?" Shimamura asked.

"Where am I from? Where am I from?" The woman seemed troubled for an answer. She began to put away her wares, the most ordinary Japanese cosmetics and hair ornaments.

Her skirt, like a dirty sheet wrapped around her, had quite lost the feel of occidental dress, and had taken on instead something of the air of Japan. She carried her wares on her back in a large Japanese-style kerchief. But for all that, she still wore foreign shoes.

The innkeeper's wife stood beside Shimamura watching the Russian leave. The two of them went into the office, where a large woman was seated at the hearth with her back to them. She took her long skirts in her hand as she stood up to go. Her cloak was a formal black.

--

49. Nā ū iân lán tō ê koh siang-hōe | 若有緣咱 tō 會 koh 相會

49. Chit-sî Yukio káⁿ í-keng tūiⁿ-khùi

Shimamura chē ê ká-ná sī sáⁿ-mih hui-hiān-si̍t ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ, sit-khì sî-kan hām hūiⁿ-kīn ê kài-liām, poa̍h-lo̍h sit-sîn ê chōng-thài, kā chi̍t-kho͘ khang-khak hûn-su kau hō͘ i chài leh cháu. Tan-tiāu ê chhia-lián siaⁿ khai-sí ná-chhiūⁿ sī hit-ê cha-bó͘ ê kóng-ōe siaⁿ.

Hiah-ê ōe-siaⁿ bô liân-sòa koh chin kán-té, sī cha-bó͘ chīn-la̍t tih seng-oa̍h ê kì-hō. I thiaⁿ liáu sim-chêng tîm-tāng, bô hoat-tō͘ pàng bē-kì. M̄-koh, tùi hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ kiâⁿ khui ê Shimamura lâi kóng, che taⁿ put-kò sī cheng-ka lí-tô͘ kiâm-suiⁿ-tiⁿ ê iâu-oán ê siaⁿ-im.

Chit-má chit-ê sî-chūn, Yukio káⁿ í-keng tūiⁿ-khùi ah hoⁿh? Komako ná ē kian-chhî m̄ túiⁿ, sī-m̄-sī chū án-ne bô hām Yukio kìⁿ chòe-āu chi̍t-bīn?

Lí-kheh chió kah khí koài-kî.

Kan-ta chi̍t-ê gō͘-cha̍p chhut-thâu ê cha-po͘-lâng hām chi̍t-ê bīn âng-âng ê ko͘-niû tùi-bīn chē, nn̄g-lâng tih kò͘ kóng-ōe. Ko͘-niû bah-bah ê keng-thâu ûi chi̍t-niá ûi-kin, chhùi-phé âng kah ná hóe, chiâⁿ hó-khòaⁿ. Yi thàm-sin choan-sim tih thiaⁿ, koh hoaⁿ-hoaⁿ hí-hí ìn-tap. Khòaⁿ hit-lō khoán, nn̄g-lâng sī tâng-chê tih tn̂g-tô͘ lí-hêng.

M̄-koh, lâi kàu chi̍t-ê ū pháng-chit-chhiáng ian-tâng ê chhia-thâu, hit-ê lāu-hòe-á sûi kín ùi hêng-lí-kè the̍h lo̍h liú-tiâu-siuⁿ (柳條箱), koh ùi thang-á-mûi kā khǹg lo̍h goa̍t-tâi, tō ná lo̍h-chhia ná ǹg ko͘-niû kóng chi̍t-kù:

"Góa lâi khì ah, nā ū-iân lán tō ē koh siang-hōe."

Shimamura hut-leh ba̍k-sái kiâng boeh lak lo̍h-lâi, ka-tī mā tio̍h-chi̍t-kiaⁿ. Chit-ê chêng-kéng, hō͘ i siūⁿ tio̍h hām hit-ê cha-bó͘ kò-pia̍t boeh túiⁿ khì ê tāi-chì.

Bîn-bāng mā siūⁿ bē kàu, chit nn̄g-lâng sī ngó͘-jiân tī chhia-téng sio-tú ê. Hit-ê cha-po͘ khòaⁿ khí-lâi ká-ná sī kang-ô͘ hoàn-á.

--

49. 這時, Yukio káⁿ 已經 tūiⁿ 氣

Shimamura 坐 ê ká-ná 是啥物非現實 ê 物件, 失去時間和 hūiⁿ 近 ê 概念, 跋落失神 ê 狀態, kā 一箍空殼魂軀交予伊載 leh 走. 單調 ê 車輪聲開始 ná 像是彼个查某 ê 講話聲.

Hiah-ê 話聲無連紲 koh 真簡短, 是查某盡力 tih 生活 ê 記號. 伊聽了心情沉重, 無法度放袂記. 毋過, 對 hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ 行開 ê Shimamura 來講, che 今不過是增加旅途鹹 suiⁿ 甜 ê 遙遠 ê 聲音.

這馬這个時陣, Yukio káⁿ 已經 tūiⁿ 氣 ah hoⁿh? Komako 那會堅持毋 túiⁿ, 是毋是自 án-ne 無 hām Yukio 見最後一面?

旅客少 kah 起怪奇.

干焦一个五十出頭 ê 查埔人和一个面紅紅 ê 姑娘對面坐, 兩人 tih 顧講話. 姑娘肉肉 ê 肩頭圍一領圍巾, 喙 phé 紅 kah ná 火, 誠好看. 她探身專心 tih 聽, koh 歡歡喜喜應答. 看 hit-lō 款, 兩人是同齊 tih 長途旅行.

毋過, 來到一个有紡織 chhiáng 煙筒 ê 車頭, 彼个老歲仔隨緊 ùi 行李架提落 liú-tiâu-siuⁿ (柳條箱), koh ùi 窗仔 mûi kā 囥落月台, tō ná 落車 ná ǹg 姑娘講一句:

"我來去 ah, 若有緣咱 tō 會 koh 相會."

Shimamura 忽 leh 目屎 kiâng 欲 lak 落來, 家治 mā 著一驚. 這个情境, 予伊想著和彼个查某告別欲 túiⁿ 去 ê 代誌.

眠夢 mā 想袂到, 這兩人是偶然 tī 車頂相拄 ê. 彼个查埔看起來 ká-ná 是江湖販仔.

--

49

Shimamura abandoned himself to the fancy that he had stepped into some unreal conveyance, that he was being borne away in emptiness, cut off from time and place. The monotonous sound of the wheels became the woman's voice.

Her words, though short and broken, were a sign that she was alive in all her vital intensity, and he knew he had not forgotten her from the fact that listening was a trial. But to the Shimamura of that moment, moving away from the woman, the voice was already a distant one that could do no more than sharpen the poignancy of travel. 

Would Yukio be breathing his last even now? Komako had for reasons of her own refused to go home; and had she then failed to reach his bedside in time?

There were so few passengers that Shimamura felt a little uneasy.

Besides Shimamura himself, there were only a man, probably in his fifties, and opposite him a red-faced girl. A black shawl was thrown over the full flesh of her shoulders, and her cheeks were a wonderful, fiery red. She leaned slightly forward to catch every word the man said, and she answered him happily. A pair off on a long journey together, Shimamura concluded.

As the train pulled into a station behind which rose the chimneys of spinning-factories, however, the man hastily got up, took a wicker trunk from the baggage rack, and threw it out the window to the platform. "Maybe we'll meet again sometime," he called back to the girl as he hurried from the train.

Shimamura suddenly wanted to weep. He had been caught quite off guard, and it struck him afresh that he had said good-by to the woman and was on his way home.

He had not considered the possibility that the two had simply met on the train. The man was perhaps a traveling salesman.

--

48. Soaⁿ ê chit-pêng iáu bô seh | 山 ê 這爿猶無雪

48. Soaⁿ ê chit-pêng iáu bô seh

Niá-pan ùi kheh-chàn tī chhia-thâu ê chiap-kheh-sit chhut-lâi, thong-ti kóng tih chián-phiò ah.

Kan-ta ū sì-gō͘-ê chhēng àm-sek kôaⁿ-thiⁿ-saⁿ ê pún-tē lâng, tiām-tiām khí-lo̍h-chhia.

"Góa m̄ khì goa̍t-tâi. Chài-hōe." Komako khiā tī hāu-chhia-sit koaiⁿ tio̍h ê thang-á-mûi lāi-bīn. Ùi hóe-chhia téng khòaⁿ kòe-khì, yi ná-chhiūⁿ sī hong-iá kóe-chí-tiàm ê chi̍t-ê kî-koài kóe-chí, ko͘ chi̍t-ê hông pàng bē-kì tī mûi-ian hun o͘ ê po-lê-siuⁿ lāi-té.

Hóe-chhia khí-kiâⁿ liáu-āu, hāu-chhia-sit ê po-lê-thang kuiⁿ khí-lâi, Komako ê bīn tī kuiⁿ khí-lâi hit-sî hut-leh phû-hiān, iū-koh siau-sit khì. Hit-ê bīn hām hit-kang chá-khí-seh chiò tī kiàⁿ lāi-té hit-ê âng-kì-kì ê bīn kāng-khoán. Chāi Shiamamura lâi khòaⁿ, che iū-koh sī thoat-lī hiān-si̍t ê hit-lō sek.

Hóe-chhia ùi pak-pêng peh chhiūⁿ pian-kài ê soaⁿ, nùi ji̍p tn̂g-tn̂g ê pōng-khang, kôaⁿ-thiⁿ ē-tàu àm-hun ê ji̍t-thâu, ná-chhiūⁿ khì hō͘ tē-ē ê o͘-àm thun khì, mā ná-chhiūⁿ kó͘-ló͘-sō͘-kó͘ ê hóe-chhia kā bêng-liāng ê gōa-khak thùiⁿ tī pōng-khang lāi, tī têng-têng tha̍h-tha̍h ê soaⁿ tiong-kan, ǹg chiap-kīn hông-hun ê soaⁿ-kheⁿ kiâⁿ lo̍h-khì. Soaⁿ ê chit-pêng iáu bô seh.

Iân hô kiâⁿ chi̍t-khùn-á, lâi kàu pêⁿ-iûⁿ, soaⁿ-téng ká-ná chhiat kòe, chhut-hiān chi̍t-chōa jiû-bí ê siâ-pho, it-ti̍t chhun kàu hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ ê soaⁿ-kha, soaⁿ-téng ní goe̍h-sek. Thiⁿ-téng iáu ū chhián-chhián ê àm-hê, chheng-chheng chhó-chhó hián-chhut soaⁿ ê khóng-sek hêng-iáⁿ. Goe̍h-sek í-keng m̄-sī pe̍h ê, m̄-koh he chhián sek mā bô kôaⁿ-thiⁿ àm-mê hit-chióng chheⁿ-chhìn ê kám-kak. Thiⁿ-téng bô pòaⁿ-chiah chiáu-á. Soaⁿ-kha ê pêⁿ-iûⁿ bô jia bô cha̍h, siang-pêng hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ khoah khui, boeh kàu hô piⁿ ê ūi, khiā chi̍t-keng ná chúi-le̍k tiān-chhiáng ê pe̍h-sek kiàn-bu̍t. Che sī ùi chhia-thang khòaⁿ tio̍h, sī ta-lo͘-lo͘ ê tang-thiⁿ boeh-àm chìn-chêng iáu khòaⁿ ē tio̍h ê kéng-tì.

In-ūi sio-khì, thang-á khai-sí khí-bông, gōa-kháu lâu-tāng ê iá-gōa chiām-chiām àm ah, po-lê téng iū hiàn-chhut sêng-kheh pòaⁿ thàu-bêng ê hêng-iáⁿ. Che oán-jiân sī hit-kang hông-hun kéng-sek chhut-hiān tī kiàⁿ lāi ê pá-hì. Lāu kah thè-sek ê kū chhia-siuⁿ, kòa saⁿ-sì-chat niâ, che ká-ná sī pa̍t-liâu sòaⁿ-lō͘, m̄-sī Tokaido (東海道) sòaⁿ ê. Tiān-hóe mā àm-àm.

--

48. 山 ê 這爿猶無雪

領班 ùi 客棧 tī 車頭 ê 接客 sit 出來, 通知講 tih 剪票 ah.

干焦有四五个穿暗色寒天衫 ê 本地人, 恬恬起落車.

"我毋去月台. 再會." Komako 徛 tī 候車 sit 關著 ê 窗仔 mûi 內面. Ùi 火車頂看過去, 她 ná 像是荒野果子店 ê 一个奇怪果子, 孤一个 hông 放袂記 tī 煤煙薰烏 ê 玻璃箱內底.

火車起行了後, 候車 sit ê 玻璃窗 kuiⁿ 起來, Komako ê 面 tī kuiⁿ 起來彼時忽 leh 浮現, 又閣消失去. 彼个面和彼工早起雪照 tī 鏡內底彼个紅 kì-kì ê 面仝款. 在 Shiamamura 來看, 這又閣是脫離現實 ê hit-lō 色.

火車 ùi 北爿 peh 上邊界 ê 山, nùi 入長長 ê 磅空, 寒天下晝暗分 ê 日頭, ná 像去予地下 ê 烏暗吞去, mā ná 像 kó͘-ló͘-sō͘-kó͘ ê 火車 kā 明亮 ê 外殼 thùiⁿ tī 磅空內, tī 重重疊疊 ê 山中間, ǹg 接近黃昏 ê 山坑行落去. 山 ê 這爿猶無雪.

沿河行一睏仔, 來到平陽, 山頂 ká-ná 切過, 出現一逝柔美 ê 斜坡, 一直伸到 hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ ê 山跤, 山頂染月色. 天頂猶有淺淺 ê 暗霞, 清清楚楚顯出山 ê 紺色形影. 月色已經毋是白 ê, 毋過 he 淺色 mā 無寒天暗暝彼種秋凊 ê 感覺. 天頂無半隻鳥仔. 山跤 ê 平陽無 jia 無閘, 雙爿 hūiⁿ-hūiⁿ 闊開, 欲到河邊 ê 位, 徛一間 ná 水力電 chhiáng ê 白色建物. 這是 ùi 車窗看著, 是焦 lo͘-lo͘ ê 冬天欲暗進前猶看會著 ê 景致.

因為燒氣, 窗仔開始起濛, 外口流動 ê 野外漸漸暗 ah, 玻璃頂又現出乘客半透明 ê 形影. 這宛然是彼工黃昏景色出現 tī 鏡內 ê 把戲. 老 kah 退色 ê 舊車廂, 掛三四節 niâ, 這 ká-ná 是別條線路, 毋是 Tokaido (東海道) 線 ê. 電火 mā 暗暗.

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48.

A porter from the inn came to tell them that the gate to the tracks was open.

Four or five villagers in somber winter dress got on and off the train.

"I'll not go to the platform with you. Good-by." Komako stood inside the closed window of the waiting-room. From the train window it was as though one strange piece of fruit had been left behind in the grimy glass case of a shabby mountain grocery.

The window of the waiting-room was clear for an instant as the train started to move. Komako's face glowed forth, and as quickly disappeared. It was the bright red it had been in the mirror that snowy morning, and for Shimamura that color again seemed to be the point at which he parted with reality.

The train climbed the north slope of the Border Range into the long tunnel. On the far side it moved down a mountain valley. The color of evening was descending from chasms between the peaks. The dim brightness of the winter afternoon seemed to have been sucked into the earth, and the battered old train had shed its bright shell in the tunnel. There was no snow on the south slope.

Following a stream, the train came out on the plain. A mountain, cut at the top in curious notches and spires, fell off in a graceful sweep to the far skirts. Over it the moon was rising. The solid, integral shape of the mountain, taking up the whole of the evening landscape there at the end of the plain, was set off in a deep purple against the pale light of the sky. The moon was no longer an afternoon white, but, faintly colored, it had not yet taken on the clear coldness of the winter night. There was not a bird in the sky. Nothing broke the lines of the wide skirts to the right and the left. Where the mountain swept down to meet the river, a stark white building, a hydroelectric plant perhaps, stood out sharply from the withered scene the train window framed, one last spot saved from the night.

The window began to steam over. The landscape outside was dusky, and the figures of the passengers floated up half-transparent. It was the play of that evening mirror again. The train, probably no more than three or four worn-out, faded, old-fashioned coaches strung together, was not from the same world as the trains one finds on the main lines. The light inside was dim.

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