murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood
weightlessness on the secretion of gastric juices. The two listened with an occasional "My goodness" or "Really?" but the longer I listened to the balding man's style of speaking, the less certain I became that, even in his white coat, he was really a doctor. No one in the dining hall paid me any special attention. No one stared or even seemed to notice I was there. My presence must have been an entirely natural event. Just once, though, the man in white spun around and asked me, "How long will you be staying?" "Two nights," I said. "I'll be leaving on Wednesday." "It's nice here this time of year, isn't it? But come again in winter. It's really nice when everything's white." "Naoko may be out of here by the time it snows," said Reiko to the man. "True, but still, the winter's really nice," he repeated with a sombre expression. I felt increasingly unsure as to whether or not he was a doctor. "What do you people talk about?" I asked Reiko, who seemed to not quite follow me. "What do we talk about? Just ordinary things. What happened that day, or books we've read, or tomorrow's weather, you know. Don't tell me you're wondering if people jump to their feet and shout stuff like: "It'll rain tomorrow if a polar bear eats the stars tonight!"' "No, no, of course not," I said. "I was just wondering what all these quiet conversations were about." "It's a quiet place, so people talk quietly," said Naoko. She made a neat pile of fish bones at the edge of her plate and dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief. "There's no need to raise your voice here. You don't have to convince anybody of anything, and you don't have to attract anyone's attention." "I guess not," I said, but as I ate my meal in those quiet surroundings, I was surprised to find myself missing the hum of people. I wanted to 128
hear laughter and people shouting for no reason and saying overblown things. That was just the kind of noise I had become weary of in recent months, but sitting here eating fish in this unnaturally quiet room, I couldn't relax. The dining hall had all the atmosphere of a specialized -machine-tool trade fair. People with a strong interest in a specialist field came together in a specific place and exchanged information understood only by themselves. Back in the room after supper, Naoko and Reiko announced that they would be going to the Area C communal bath and that if I didn't mind having just a shower, I could use the one in their bathroom. I would do that, I said, and after they were gone I undressed, showered, and washed my hair. I found a Bill Evans album in the bookcase and was listening to it while drying my hair when I realized that it was the record I had played in Naoko's room on the night of her birthday, the night she cried and I took her in my arms. That had been only six months ago, but it felt like something from a much remoter past. Maybe it felt that way because I had thought about it so often - too often, to the point where it had distorted my sense of time. The moon was so bright, I turned the lights off and stretched out on the sofa to listen to Bill Evans' piano. Streaming in through the window, the moonlight cast long shadows and splashed the walls with a touch of diluted Indian ink. I took a thin metal flask from my rucksack, let my mouth fill with the brandy it contained, allowed the warmth to move slowly down my throat to my stomach, and from there felt it spreading to every extremity. After a final sip, I closed the flask and returned it to my rucksack. Now the moonlight seemed to be swaying with the music. Twenty minutes later, Naoko and Reiko came back from the bath. "Oh! It was so dark here, we thought you had packed your bags and gone back to Tokyo!" exclaimed Reiko. "No way," I said. "I hadn't seen such a bright moon for years. I wanted to look at it with the lights off." 129
- Page 78 and 79: you." "I'd like that," I said. Mido
- Page 80 and 81: the shutter and stepped a few paces
- Page 82 and 83: "Thanks," I said. It suddenly dawne
- Page 84 and 85: I nodded, swallowing a mouthful of
- Page 86 and 87: "You're very clear about what you l
- Page 88 and 89: "I'd go and have a look around at l
- Page 90 and 91: unning away." "Even if this place b
- Page 92 and 93: "It's true. Don't you think I'm ter
- Page 94 and 95: different from other people's. I'm
- Page 96 and 97: call," I said. 'As long as lunch is
- Page 98 and 99: At 11.30 Nagasawa was ready to give
- Page 100 and 101: "So find a vending machine and a ni
- Page 102 and 103: the events had undoubtedly happened
- Page 104 and 105: this time I am very, very calm. Cle
- Page 106 and 107: We eat freshly picked fruits and ve
- Page 108 and 109: to the Ami Hostel. A woman receptio
- Page 110 and 111: still taste my morning coffee. By t
- Page 112 and 113: PRIVATE NO TRESPASSING. A few clues
- Page 114 and 115: merely a nice person but whose nice
- Page 116 and 117: my question. "The first thing you o
- Page 118 and 119: "What should I do, then? Give me an
- Page 120 and 121: I nodded. "I think the three of us
- Page 122 and 123: we can ask a staff member to buy fo
- Page 124 and 125: "I'm sure I'll be fine." "So, that
- Page 126 and 127: With Naoko gone, I went to sleep on
- Page 130 and 131: "It's lovely, though," said Naoko.
- Page 132 and 133: never plays it unless I request it.
- Page 134 and 135: laughing. "How many girls has he sl
- Page 136 and 137: "I couldn't get wet," she said in a
- Page 138 and 139: Reiko sat alone on the carpet, play
- Page 140 and 141: She picked up the basketball again,
- Page 142 and 143: it in hot water, taking a few days
- Page 144 and 145: I said I liked him and thought he w
- Page 146 and 147: all this talk about me. You came he
- Page 148 and 149: have negative thoughts about her be
- Page 150 and 151: draw people - or draw me, at least
- Page 152 and 153: her, outside work, or sports. She h
- Page 154 and 155: est side, I'd say he succeeded. His
- Page 156 and 157: anana; if we got lonely, we'd go to
- Page 158 and 159: the window. She had drawn her knees
- Page 160 and 161: changes to be reborn in utter perfe
- Page 162 and 163: feed and a garden hose. Naoko screw
- Page 164 and 165: "We'll be back before lunch." The t
- Page 166 and 167: used it to make a whistle. The trai
- Page 168 and 169: adios in our rooms, so if I don't c
- Page 170 and 171: "It feels like ancient history," sa
- Page 172 and 173: "Well, it depends how you look at i
- Page 174 and 175: "She was the kind of person who too
- Page 176 and 177: something inside me had died. I jus
hear laughter and people shouting for no reason and saying overblown<br />
things. That was just the kind of noise I had become weary of in<br />
recent months, but sitting here eating fish in this unnaturally quiet<br />
room, I couldn't relax. The dining hall had all the atmosphere of a<br />
specialized -machine-tool trade fair. People with a strong interest in a<br />
specialist field came together in a specific place and exchanged<br />
information understood only by themselves.<br />
Back in the room after supper, Naoko and Reiko announced that they<br />
would be going to the Area C communal bath and that if I didn't mind<br />
having just a shower, I could use the one in their bathroom. I would do<br />
that, I said, and after they were gone I undressed, showered, and<br />
washed my hair. I found a Bill Evans album in the bookcase and was<br />
listening to it while drying my hair when I realized that it was the<br />
record I had played in Naoko's room on the night of her birthday, the<br />
night she cried and I took her in my arms. That had been only six<br />
months ago, but it felt like something from a much remoter past.<br />
Maybe it felt that way because I had thought about it so often - too<br />
often, to the point where it had distorted my sense of time.<br />
The moon was so bright, I turned the lights off and stretched out on<br />
the sofa to listen to Bill Evans' piano. Streaming in through the<br />
window, the moonlight cast long shadows and splashed the walls with<br />
a touch of diluted Indian ink. I took a thin metal flask from my<br />
rucksack, let my mouth fill with the brandy it contained, allowed the<br />
warmth to move slowly down my throat to my stomach, and from<br />
there felt it spreading to every extremity. After a final sip, I closed the<br />
flask and returned it to my rucksack. Now the moonlight seemed to be<br />
swaying with the music.<br />
Twenty minutes later, Naoko and Reiko came back from the bath.<br />
"Oh! It was so dark here, we thought you had packed your bags and<br />
gone back to Tokyo!" exclaimed Reiko.<br />
"No way," I said. "I hadn't seen such a bright moon for years. I wanted<br />
to look at it with the lights off."<br />
129
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