74. Ta̍k-ê lóng chai lán ê tāi-chì
Yi kā chiah-ê tāi-chì, a̍h sī ùi tá chi̍t-keng kheh-chàn kàu lēng-gōa chi̍t-keng, hām tī iàn-hōe ê tāi-chì téng-téng lóng pò-kò hō͘ i thiaⁿ.
"Góa ē koh lâi." Yi ná lim chúi, ná khiā khí-lâi, kóng:
"Hoān-sè mā bô lâi. Saⁿ-ê lâng tio̍h àn-nāi saⁿ-cha̍p ê lâng-kheh, siuⁿ bô-êng, kiâⁿ bē khui kha."
M̄-koh, kòe bô gōa kú, yi koh lâi ah.
"Chiâⁿ chia̍h-la̍t. Saⁿ-cha̍p ê lâng-kheh, kan-ta saⁿ-ê pôe-chiú ê. Hit nn̄g-ê, lāu--ê lāu, chíⁿ--ê chíⁿ, góa chiâⁿ chia̍h-la̍t. Lâng-kheh ū-kàu tàng-sng, tiāⁿ-tio̍h sī sám-á lí-hêng-thoân ê. Saⁿ-cha̍p lâng siāng-bô tio̍h kiò la̍k-ê pôe-chiú. Góa lăi kā lim--kúi-poe, kā in heh chi̍t-ē."
Ta̍k-kang lóng án-ne, ē piàn-chò sáⁿ-khoán ah? Komako ká-ná mā siūⁿ boeh kā hûn-su bih khí-lâi. M̄-koh, yi he ko͘-to̍k ê khoán-sè tian-tò khòaⁿ tio̍h koh-khah bê-lâng.
"Cháu-lông ê tē-pán chi̍t-kiâⁿ tō ki-ki-koāiⁿ-koāiⁿ, chiâⁿ pháiⁿ-sè. Hó-lé-á kiâⁿ, mā ē thiaⁿ tio̍h. Góa keng-kòe chàu-kha hia, tō ū lâng chhiò kóng, ‘Koma-Chan, koh boeh khì Tê-hoe-pâng hoⁿh?’ Siūⁿ-bē-kàu chit-lō tāi-chì góa tio̍h uiⁿ-uiⁿ-iap-iap."
"Só͘-chāi e̍h, bô hoat-tō͘."
"Ta̍k-ê lóng chai lán ê tāi-chì ah."
"Án-ne tō bái ah."
"Sī ah. Chit-chióng sió só͘-chāi, nā ū pháiⁿ miâ-siaⁿ tō hāi lah." Sui-bóng án-ne kóng, yi taⁿ-bīn chhiò-chhiò kóng:
"Ah, bô iàu-kín lah. Goán khì tah lóng ē-sái chò."
Yi hit-chióng chin-chêng sit-ì ê kháu-khì, hō͘ khò chó͘-sán chia̍h-chhēng ê Shimamura chin ì-gōa.
"Sī ah. Tī tá-ūi chò lóng mā kāng-khoán. M̄-bián siūⁿ bē khui."
M̄-koh, Shimamura ùi yi he bû-só͘-ùi ê siaⁿ-tiāu thiaⁿ chhut yi ê sim-siaⁿ.
"Bô iàu-kín lah. Kan-ta cha-bó͘ chiah ū hoat-tō͘ chin-sim khì ài chi̍t-ê lâng." Komako ê bīn sió-khóa âng, thâu lê loeh.
--
74. 逐个攏知咱 ê 代誌
她 kā chiah-ê 代誌, 抑是 ùi tá 一間客棧到另外一間, 和 tī 宴會 ê 代誌等等攏報告予伊聽.
"我會 koh 來." 她 ná 啉水, ná 徛起來, 講:
"凡勢 mā 無來. 三个人著按耐三十个人客, 傷無閒, 行袂開跤."
毋過, 過無偌久, 她 koh 來 ah.
"誠食力. 三十个人客, 干焦三个陪酒 ê. 彼兩个, 老--ê 老, 茈--ê 茈, 我誠食力. 人客有夠凍霜, 定著是 sám-á 旅行團 ê. 三十人上無著叫六个陪酒. 我 la̋i kā 啉--幾杯, kā in heh 一下."
逐工攏 án-ne, 會變做啥款 ah? Komako ká-ná mā 想欲 kā 魂軀覕起來. 毋過, 她 he 孤獨 ê 款勢顛倒看著閣較迷人.
"走廊 ê 地板一行 tō ki-ki-koāiⁿ-koāiⁿ, 誠歹勢. 好禮仔行, mā 會聽著. 我經過灶跤遐, tō 有人笑講, ‘Koma-Chan, koh 欲去茶花房 hoⁿh?’ 想袂到 chit-lō 代誌我著 uiⁿ-uiⁿ-iap-iap."
"所在狹, 無法度."
"逐个攏知咱 ê 代誌 ah."
"Án-ne tō 䆀 ah."
"是 ah. 這種小所在, 若有歹名聲 tō 害 lah." 雖罔 án-ne 講, 她 taⁿ 面笑笑講:
"Ah, 無要緊 lah. 阮去 tah 攏會使做."
她彼種真情失意 ê 口氣, 予靠祖產食穿 ê Shimamura 真意外.
"是 ah. Tī tá 位做攏 mā 仝款. 毋免想袂開."
毋過, Shimamura ùi 她 he 無所謂 ê 聲調聽出她 ê 心聲.
"無要緊 lah. 干焦查某才有法度真心去愛一个人." Komako ê 面小可紅, 頭犁 loeh.
--
74.
Such were the things she talked of. Or she told him of the inn she had gone to first, and the next and the next, and the parties she had been to at each.
"I'll come again later." She had a glass of water before she left. "Or maybe I won't. Thirty guests and only three of us. I'll be much too busy."
But almost immediately she was back.
"It's hard work. Thirty of them and only three of us. And the other two are the very oldest and the very youngest in town, and that leaves all the hard work for me. Stingy people. A travel club of some sort, I suppose. With thirty guests you need at least six geisha. I'll go have a drink and pick a fight with them."
So it was every day. Komako must have wanted to crawl away and hide at the thought of where it was leading. But that indefinable air of loneliness only made her the more seductive.
"The floor always creaks when I come down the hall. I walk very softly, but they hear me just the same. 'Off to the Camellia Room again, Komako?' they say as I go by the kitchen. I never thought I'd have to worry so about my reputation."
"The town's really too small."
"Everyone has heard about us, of course."
"That will never do."
"You begin to have a bad name, and you're ruined in a little place like this." But she looked up and smiled. "It makes no difference. My kind can find work anywhere."
That straightforward manner, so replete with direct, immediate feeling, was quite foreign to Shimamura, the idler who had inherited his money.
"It will be the same, wherever I go. There's nothing to be upset about."
But he caught an echo of the woman underneath the surface nonchalance.
"And I can't complain. After all, only women are able really to love." She flushed a little and looked at the floor.
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