Otogizoshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu (Translated) (6 page)

“You don’t say.” Urashima still looks baffled. “But where are her chambers? As far as I can see, it’s as lonely and desolate as Hades itself—there’s not a tree or a clump of grass to be seen.”

“You country boys. You see a few tall buildings and bright city lights and your mouths fall open, but you don’t have the least interest in the serene, secluded beauty of a place like this. Urashima-san, that noble refinement of yours is starting to look a little suspicious. But then, I suppose it’s only to be expected of a bumpkin from the wild and rocky coast of Tango. All that talk about culture and lofty destiny—it’s enough to make an honest man break out in a cold sweat. And you claim to be steeped in the time-honored tradition of gentlemanly refinement—what a laugh! Here you’re confronted with the real thing and you turn into a driveling hick. Well, the cat’s out of the bag now. You can stop playing the gentleman.”

Since arriving at the Dragon Palace, the tortoise’s poison tongue has only acquired an even nastier sting. Urashima is crushed.

“But... but... I can’t
see
anything!” His voice is practically a sob.

“That’s why I told you to watch your step. This isn’t a corridor like on land, you know. It’s a bridge of fish. Hundreds of millions of fish all huddled together. Be careful.”

A chill races down Urashima’s spine, and he shoots to his tiptoes. No wonder the floor felt so slimy beneath his feet! Peering down, he can see that it does indeed consist of countless fish of every size and description, squeezed together gill to gill and all but motionless.

“This is horrible!” he sputters as he minces unsteadily along. “In very bad taste, I must say. Is this what you call the serene, secluded beauty of the place—having the guest walk on the backs of fish? It’s the ultimate in vulgarity! Think of the poor fish, to begin with! If this is refinement, it’s of a variety a bit too bizarre for simple country folk like me to comprehend!”

The opportunity to vent his resentment at having been called a hick provides a small amount of satisfaction, if only momentarily.

“Not at all, sir,” says a tiny voice at his feet. “We come here each day to listen to Her Highness Princess Oto play the harp. This bridge of ours isn’t an expression of refinement. We’re simply entranced by the music, you see. Please feel free to walk on. We don’t feel a thing, I assure you.”

“Oh. I see,” Urashima says with an embarrassed smile. “I thought this was meant as some sort of decorative touch to the palace environs or—”

“That’s not all you thought,” the tortoise interrupts. “You thought Her Highness ordered the fish to do this to give a proper welcome to the young master of—”

“See here! I did not!” Urashima protests, flustered and blushing. “Heaven knows I’m not quite so vain as all that! But, I mean, you’re the one who told me that nonsense about this being the floor of the corridor, so I just, that is, I merely thought, well, I mean, the poor fish...”

“We don’t need floors down here. I was trying to explain the fish by way of an analogy you’d be able to grasp. It seemed to me that in terms of a house on land, this would be more or less equivalent to a corridor. I wasn’t just spouting nonsense. You think it hurts the fish? Here at the true bottom of the sea you weigh about as much as a sheet of paper. Haven’t you noticed how light and buoyant you feel?”

Now that it’s brought to Urashima’s attention, he does feel rather light on his feet. But he’s also acutely conscious of having been the target of a heavy stream of abuse from the tortoise, and resentment has begun to get the better of him.

“I no longer know what to believe, and it’s getting harder and harder to care. This is exactly what I find so distasteful about adventure. You have no way of knowing whether you’re being deceived. All you can do is trust in your guide, and if he tells you that this is that, then that’s that. There’s altogether too much potential for deception in this adventure business. And besides,” he adds, lashing out somewhat indiscriminately now, “what’s all this about a harp? I don’t hear any bloody harp!”

The tortoise maintains his composure.

“You’re used to surface life, where everything’s on a single plane. You’re still thinking north-south-east-west, but here, of course, we have two extra directions—up and down. You’ve been searching for Princess Oto all this time with your eyes straight ahead. An understandable error, I suppose, but why don’t you look up above you? Or down below? You see, everything in the Dragon Palace is adrift. The palace gate, the fish bridge, even the pearl mountains are all shifting and moving somewhat. You don’t notice because you’re moving along with them—up, down, left, right. You probably think we’ve progressed quite some distance since we started walking, but the fact is that we’re still in approximately the same place. We may even have slid backwards a bit. The way the tide is right now, it’s pulling us back at a pretty good clip. We’ve risen too—about a hundred fathoms, I’d say.

“But let’s keep going, shall we? You’ll notice that the fish have started thinning out a bit. Be careful you don’t step in a hole. Not that it would be all that dangerous—you’re not going to go hurtling toward the ocean floor because, as I said, you weigh very little now. And this is a bridge to nowhere, anyway. It ends just ahead, but there’s nothing on the other side. Look down below you, though.
Hey, you jellyfish! Move aside there! The young master’s here to see Her Highness
! These fellows form a sort of canopy over the castle proper, you see. A floating canopy of jellyfish—I should think a refined poetic sort like you would appreciate that.”

The jellyfish silently part and move to either side, and now the faint plinking of a harp can be heard issuing from somewhere below. The sound is similar to that of the Japanese koto, yet not as piercing. It’s a softer, more ethereal sound, with tones that seem to linger and reverberate endlessly. But what is the song? “Chrysanthemum Dew”? “The Gossamer Gown”? “Sunset”? “Ghosts”? “River of Dreams”? No, it isn’t quite like any of these. The melody possesses a fragile beauty and insubstantiality that not even the genteel and poetic Urashima can define, and it resonates with a profound and noble solitude the like of which he’s never heard on land.

“What a marvelous tune. What is it called?”

The tortoise listens for a moment.

“
Seitei
,” he says.

“
Seitei
?”

“
Sei
—‘Divine.’
Tei
—‘Resignation.’”

“‘Divine Resignation’...”

As Urashima repeats the title under his breath, he receives for the first time an intimation that life in the Dragon Palace, here at the bottom of the sea, is embued with nobility of a much higher sort than any he’s ever imagined. No wonder the tortoise spoke of breaking out in a cold sweat to hear him babble about destiny and culture and the time-honored tradition of gentlemanly refinement. His refinement, he sees now, is mere imitation, mere pretense—monkey see, monkey do. He really is like some sort of mountain ape.

“From now on I’ll believe every word you say. ‘Divine Resignation.’ Yes. Yes, of course...”

Urashima lingers there as if spellbound, bending his ear to that wondrous music.

“We’re going to jump down from here now. Nothing dangerous about it. Just spread your arms like this and step off. You’ll float down nice and easy. From here we should end up right at the foot of the stairway to the main hall. Come on, now, look alive. Ready? Follow me.”

The tortoise sinks slowly out of sight. Urashima blinks as if awaking from a dream, spreads his arms, and steps off the jellyfish canopy. He’s pulled gently downward, and a cool and refreshing breeze plays against his cheeks. The water turns various hues of green, rather like the dappled shade of leafy trees, the sound of the harp grows nearer and clearer, and the next thing he knows he’s standing next to the tortoise at the foot of a stairway. “Stairway” is what the tortoise called it, but it’s more like a gentle, unbroken slope, carpeted with countless tiny orbs that glisten with a dull, silvery sheen.

“Are these pearls too?” Urashima whispers.

The tortoise gives him a pitying look.

“You see something small and round, it must be a pearl, right? I told you the pearls get thrown away. Scoop up a handful of these and take a closer look.”

Urashima bends down to gather several of the little balls in his hands. They’re as cold as ice.

“Oh! It’s hail!”

“Don’t be stupid. Put a few of them in your mouth.”

He obediently stuffs his cheeks with five or six of the cold little globes. “They’re delicious!”

“Aren’t they?” says the tortoise. “These are the cherries of the sea. If you eat these you’ll live for three hundred years and never get any older.”

“Is that right? Does it matter how many you eat?” Our refined Urashima, suddenly forgetting his manners, bends down to scoop up another handful. “I hate the idea of getting old and ugly, you know. I’m not so afraid of dying, but the ravages of age just don’t match my aesthetic. I think I’ll have a few more of these.”

“She’s
smiling
! Look up there. Her Highness has come to greet you. She looks especially lovely today.”

At the top of the slope of sea cherries stands a petite young woman draped in a sheer blue gown. She’s gazing down at them with a hint of a smile on her lips. Her skin, beneath the translucent gown, is as white as foam.

“Is that Princess Oto?” Urashima whispers, his face turning bright red.

“Who else would it be? Stop fidgeting, you idiot. Acknowledge her.”

Urashima grows even more flustered at the suggestion.

“But what should I say? No sense in announcing my name—what does she care about someone like me? And besides, after barging in uninvited like this... I mean, what’s the point? Let’s go back.”

Apparently even Urashima of the lofty destiny, when face to face with a noble and legendary princess, can turn timid and cowardly. He’s ready to run.

“Her Highness has known about you for a long time. Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘The palace’s ears reach ten thousand leagues’? Pluck up your courage and give her a polite little bow. Besides, even if she didn’t know anything about you, you wouldn’t have to rack your brains like that. She’s not someone who cares about personal trivialities or harbors suspicions. All you have to say is, ‘I’ve come for a visit.’”

“Oh, sure. As if I could be so rude. Goodness, she’s laughing now! I guess I’d better at least bow to her.”

Urashima bows so deeply his toes are within reach of his hands.

“That’s
too
polite. What’s the matter with you? You’re the man I owe my life to, for heaven’s sake. Show a little dignity. Scraping the floor like that... You call yourself refined? Look—Her Highness is beckoning. Let’s go. Stand straight, chest out. I want you to strut like you’re the handsomest man in Japan, a man of the noblest, most refined tastes. You have no problem lording it over me with that affected attitude of yours, but face to face with a beautiful woman you turn into a quivering toad?”

“Don’t be coarse. One simply cannot be too respectful of such a noble and exalted person.”

Urashima is so nervous his voice is hoarse and his legs are shaking. He staggers up the slope behind the tortoise, only to find himself in a room that must measure ten thousand mats in size. Or perhaps the word “garden” would be more appropriate. This space too is carpeted with the little hail-like cherries shining in the leaf-green rays of light that waft through the hazy atmosphere. Here and there, in no particular arrangement, are large black rocks, the only visible objects. There is of course no roof, nor a single pillar as far as the eye can see, giving the place the air of an ancient ruin. It’s some time before Urashima notices the tiny purple flowers peeping out amid the sea cherries, but these only seem to add to the solitude of the scene. He finds it amazing that anyone could bear to live in such a lonely, secluded place, and he sighs a sigh of something like wonder. Then he remembers himself and steals a glance at the princess.

Without a word, she turns her back to him and begins to walk slowly away. It’s then that he notices for the first time the countless tiny golden fish, smaller than the smallest minnows, swimming along behind her: a scarcely visible, glittering golden train that conforms precisely to her every move, like an aura. She is indeed, he feels, an august being, and not of the everyday world.

Princess Oto is barefoot, her thin garment fluttering in slow motion with each step, and as Urashima watches he realizes that her small white feet are not quite touching the carpet of sea cherries. Maybe the soles of those feet have never touched anything. No doubt they’re as soft and smooth as the feet of a newborn baby—a thought that only makes her unembellished body seem to him all the more exquisite, the literal embodiment of purity and nobility. He begins to feel grateful for this adventure of his, glad he allowed himself to be talked into coming to the Dragon Palace, as he dreamily follows along behind her.

“Well? Not bad, eh?” the tortoise whispers, nudging him in the ribs with a fin.

“No... What?” Reverie interrupted, Urashima  quickly changes the subject. “These flowers, these purple flowers. They’re very pretty.”

“What, these things?” the tortoise says, wincing with disappointment. “They’re just the flowers of the sea cherries. They look a little like violets, don’t they? Sip at these petals and you’ll get nice and high. They serve as our wine here. And those things that look like big rocks? They’re actually algae bushes that have been growing for tens of thousands of years. They’re softer and chewier than bean jam and more delicious than anything you can find on land. Each bush is a different flavor too. Down here we eat that algae, get high on the flower petals, sip the juice of the sea cherries when we’re thirsty, listen to Princess Oto’s harp, and watch the little fish dance about like living snow flurries. I told you when I invited you down here that it’s a place of music, dance, delectable food, and wonderful wine. Is it different from what you expected?”

Urashima makes no reply but a poignant, rueful smile.