Читать книгу Milky Way Railroad - Kenji Miyazawa - Страница 7

Home

The place where Giovanni was rushing so eagerly was a little house on a side street. There, in the farthest left of three doorways, asparagus and purple kale grew in an open box. The shades were pulled down over two small windows. “Mother, I’m back! Are you feeling all right?” Giovanni called out, as he slipped out of his shoes.

When Giovanni came in, he found his mother resting in the front room with a white cloth wrapped around her head. “Ah—Giovanni, you must have had a rough day. I’ve been feeling just fine. It was nice and cool today.”

Giovanni opened a window. “Mom, I bought a bag of sugar today. I thought you’d like some sugar in your milk.”

“Well, you have some first, Giovanni. I’m not hungry yet.”

“Mom, when did Sis get back?”

“Ah, it was about three. She did all the housework for me.”

“Didn’t your milk come, Mom?”

“It looks like it didn’t.”

“I’ll go get it!”

“No, you go ahead and eat now. I can take my time later. Your sister made some kind of tomato dish and put it over there.”

“Okay. I’ll eat right away.” Giovanni took the plate of tomatoes from the windowsill and sat for a while munching tomatoes and bread. “Oh. Mom,” he broke out suddenly, “I’m quite sure Dad will be coming back before long!”

“I think so, too, but why do you think so, Giovanni?”

“It said in the paper this morning that the fishing was very good this year in the north.”

“Ummm. But your father probably didn’t go out to fish.”

“Sure he did!” And Giovanni added, “He wouldn’t do anything bad enough to be sent to jail. Remember the big crab shell and the reindeer antlers he gave to the school? Now they’re in the display room, and the teachers take turns showing them in their classes.”

“He said he’d bring you an otter-skin coat next time,” said his mother.

“When the guys meet me, they all talk about that, too, to make fun of me.”

“They make fun of you?”

“Yes, but Campanella never joins in. When they make remarks, Campanella just gets sort of sad-looking.”

“Campanella’s father and your father were friends when they were boys, just like you and Campanella are.”

Giovanni took the plate of tomatoes from the windowsill and sat for a while munching tomatoes and bread.

“That’s why Dad took me with him to Campanella’s house. Those were good times! I used to stop at Campanella’s all the time on the way from school. There was a model train at Campanella’s that ran with an alcohol engine. If you put together seven pieces of rail, they made a circle, and there were telephone poles and signal lights that turned green when the train was coming! Once when there wasn’t any alcohol we used kerosene and the canister got covered with soot.”

“Sounds logical,” said Giovanni’s mother.

“Now I go by there every morning on my paper route, but the house is always quiet and dark.”

“Because it’s so early.”

“They have a dog called Pooch. His tail is just like a broom! When I go, he runs along beside me whining. He goes all the way to the corner in town with me. Sometimes even farther. Tonight,” he went on, “everyone is going to sail gourds with candles down the river. I’m sure they’ll take the dog.”

“That’s right, tonight’s the Milky Way Festival, isn’t it?”

“Yes. When I go for the milk, I’ll go take a look.”

“Yes, go right ahead!” urged his mother. “Only stay out of the river.”

“I’ll just be looking down from the rocks, and I’ll be back in an hour.”

“Play as much as you like. If you’re with Campanella, I’m not worried.”

“We’ll be right together! Shall I close the window, Mom?”

“I guess so. It is getting cool.”

Giovanni got up and closed the window. Then he washed the dishes, put away the bag of sugar and the bread, and, in high spirits, started out.

“I’ll be back in an hour and a half, then,” he called, and went out through the dark doorway.