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Murakami Haruki - Town of Cats New Yorker 5 Sept 2011
Murakami Haruki - Town of Cats New Yorker 5 Sept 2011
TOWN OF CATS
BY HAI\UKI MURAKAMI
A
t Koenji Station, T engo boarded pine grove formed a windbreak along Saturdays, Tengo could go to school or
the Chuo Line inbound rapid the edge of the garden. And the medical to day care, but these institutions were
service train. The car was empty. He had facilities were excellent. Vlith his health closed on Sundays. Another reason,
nothing planned that day. W herever he insurance, retirement bonus, savings, Tengo's father said, was that it was im
went and whatever he did (or didn't do) and pension, Tengo' s father could prob portant for a father to show his son what
was entirely up to him. Itwas ten o'clock ably spend the rest of his life there quite kind of work he did. A child .should
on a windless summer moming, and the comfortably. I Ie might not leave behind learn early on what activity was support
sun was beating down.The train passed any sizable inheritance, but at least he ing him, and he should appreciate the
Shinjuku, Yotsuya, Ochanomizu, and would be taken care of, for which Tengo importance of labor. Tengo's father had
arrived at Tokyo Central Station, the was tremendously grateful. Tengo had been sent out to work in the fields on his
end of the line. Everyone got off, and no intention of taking anything from father's farm, on Sunday like any other
Tengo followed suit. Then he sat on a him or giving anything to him. They day, from the time he was old enough to
bench and gave some thought to where were tvvo separate human beings who w1derstand anything. He had even been
he should go. "I can go anywhere I de had come from--and were heading to kept out of school during the busiest sea
cide to," he told himsel£ '1t looks as ifit's ward-entirely different places. By sons. To him, such a life was a girven.
going to be a hot day. I could go to the chance, they had spent some years of life Tengo's father's third and final reason
seashore." He raised his head and stud together-that was all. It was a shame was a more calculating one, which was
ied the platform guide. that it had come to that, but there was why it had left the deepest scars on his
At that point, he realized what he absolutely nothing that Tengo could do son's heart. Tengo's father was well
had been doing all along. about it. aware that having a small child with him
He tried shaking his head a f e w Tengo paid his check and went to the made his job easier. Even people who
times, but the idea that had struck him platform to wait for the Tateyama train. were determined not to pay often ended
would not go away. He had probably Ilis only fellow-passengers were happy up forking over the money when a little
made up his mind unconsciously the looking families heading out for a few boy was staring up at them, which was
moment he boarded the Chuo Line days at the beach. why Tengo's father saved his most
train in Koenji. He heaved a sigh, stood difficult routes for Sunday. Tengo sensed
ost people think of Sunday as a from the beginning that this was the role
M
up from the bench, and asked a station
employee for the fastest connection to day of rest. Throughout his child he was expected to play, and he abso
Chikura. The man flipped through the hood, however, Tengo had never once lutely hated it. But he also felt that he
pages of a thick volume of train sched viewed Sunday as a day to enjoy. For had to perform it as clC;.-verly as he could
ules. He should take the 11:30 special him, Sundaywas like a misshapen moon in order to please his futher. Ifhe pleased
express train to Tateyama, the man said, that showed only its dark side. When his father, he would be treated kindly
and transfer there to a local; he would ar the weekend came, his whole body that day. He might as well have been a
rive at Chikura shortly after two o'clock. began to feel sluggis h and achy, and his trained monkey.
Tengo bought aTokyo-Chikura round appetite would disappear. He had even Tengo' s one consolation was that his
trip ticket. Then he went to a restaurant prayed for Sunday not to come, though father's beat was fairly far from home.
in the station and ordered rice and curry his prayers were never answered. They lived in a suburban residential dis
and a salad When Tengo was a boy, his father trict outside the city oflchikawa, and his
Going to see his father was a depress was a collector of subscription fees for father's rounds were in the center of the
ing prospect. He had never much liked NHK-Japan's quasi-governmental city. At least he was able to avoid doing
the man, and his father had no special radio and television network-and, collections at the homes ofhis classmates.
love for him, either. He had retired four every Sunday, he would take Tengo with Occasionally, though, while walking in
years �::a.rlier and, soon afterward, entered him as he went door to door soliciting the downtovvn shopping area, he would
a sanatorium in Chikura that specialized payment. Tengo had started going on spot a classmate on the street. When this
in patients with cognitive disorders. these row1ds before he entered kinder happened, he ducked behind his father
Tengo had visited him there no more garten and continued through fifth to keep from being noticed.
than twice-the first time just after he grade without a single wee kend off. I Ie On Monday mornings, his school
had entered the facility, when a proce had no idea whether other NHK fee col friends would talk excitedly about where
dural problem required T engo, as the lectors worked on Sundays, but, for as they had gone and what they had done
only relative, to be there. The second long as he could remember, his father al the day before. They went to amuse
visit had also involved an administrative ways had. If anything, his father worked ment parks and zoos and baseball games.
matter. Two times: that was it. with even more enthusiasm than usual, In the summer, they went swimming, in
The sanatorium stood on a large plot because on Sundays he could catch the the winter skiing. ButTengo had noth
of land by the coast. It was an odd com people who were usually out during the ing to tail< about. From morning to eve
bination of elegant old wooden build week ning on Sundays, he and his father rang
� ings and new three-story reinforced Tengo's father had several reasons for the doorbells of strangers' houses, bowed
§ concrete buildings. The air was fresh, taking him along on his rounds. One their heads, and took money from who
� however, and, aside from the roar of the reason was that he could not leave the ever came to the door. If people didn't
� surf, it was always quiet. An imposing boy at home alone. On weekdays and want to pay, his father would threaten or
A
ing been secretly informed of the im haps. But when his stories touched on s an adult, Tengo often wondered
pending situation by a certain official, a the period after he became an NHK if the young man sucking on his
man he had become friendly with. The employee they suddenly lost all vitality. mother's breasts in his vision was his bi
minute he heard the news that the Sovi He had met a woman, married her, and ological father. This was because Tengo
ets had violated the border, he mounted in no ,;vay resembled his father, the stel
his horse, galloped to the local train sta lar NHK collections agent. Tengo was a
tion, and boarded the second-to-last tall , strapping man with a broad fore
train for Da-lien. He \¥aS the only one head, a narrow nose, and tightly balled
among his farming companions to make ears. His father was short and squat and
it back to Japan before the end of the utterly unimpressive. He had a small
year. forehead, a flat nose, and pointed ears
Mter the war, Tengo's father went to like a horse's. Where Tengo had a re
Tokyo and tried to make a living as a laxed and generous look, his father ap-
just happened. There was no way they knowing that nothing he said would get www.mortonsubastas.com
could have missed him. But for some tltrough to his father. Finally, his father
reason they didn't see him. In any case, told him that if he wouldn't listen then
he decides that when morning comes he couldn't go on feeding him. Tengo
he will go to the station and take the should get the hell out.
train out of this town. His luck can't last Tengo did as he was told. I Ie had A distinctive psychiatric hospital
forever .. made up his mind. I Ie was not going to
The next morning, however, the be afraid. Now that he had been given AUSTEN RIGGS CENTER
train does not stop at the station. He permission to leave his cage, he was Intensive psychotherapy in an open community.
watches it pass by without slowing more relieved than anything else. But Stockbridge, MA I AustenRiggs.org )B00-51-RIGGS
down. The afternoon train does the there was no way that a ten-year-old boy
same. He can see the engineer seated at could live on his own. When his class
the controls. But the train shows no sign was dismissed at tl1e end of the day, he
of stopping. It is as though no one can confessed his predicament to his teacher.
see the young man waiting for a train The teacher was a single woman in her WHAT'S THE
or even see the station itsel£ Once the
afternoon train disappears down the
mid-thirties, a fair-minded, warm
hearted pe.rson. She heard Tengo out
BIG IDEA?
track, the place grows quieter than ever. with sympathy, and that evening she Small space has big rewards.
The sw1 begins to sink.l t is time for the took him back to his father's place for a
To find out more, visit
www.newyorkersmallspace.com,
cats to come. The young man knows long talk. or contact Courtney Kelly,
that he is irretrievably lost. This is no Tengo was told to leave the room, so at 877.843.6967.
town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the he was not sure what tht.y said to each
A
t the reception desk of the sanato sloppy outfit he was wearing: aJeffBeck said to Tengo. "Please feel free to stay
rium, Tengo gave his name and his Japan Tour T-shirt under a faded dw1- w1til then."
father's name. garee shirt with mismatched buttons, Tengo hesitated for a moment after
The nurse asked, "Have you by any chinos with specks of pizza sauce near the nurse left, and then approached his
chance notified us of your intention to one knee, a basebal[ cap-no way for a father, sitting down in the chair oppo
visit today?" There was a hard edge to thirty-year-old son to dress on his first site his-a faded, cloth-covered chair,
her voice. A small woman, she wore hospital visit to his father in two years. its wooden parts scarred from long
metal-framed glasses, and her short hair N or did he have anything with him that use. His father's eyes followed his
had a touch of gray. might serve as a gift on such an occasion. movements.
"No, it just occurred to me to come No wonder the nurse had given 11in1 that "How are you?" Tengo asked.
this morning and I hopped on a train," look of disgust. "Fine, thank you," his father said
Tengo answered honestly. Tengo's father was in his room, sit formally.
The nurse gave him a look of mild ting in a chair by the open window, his Tengo did not know what to say after
disgust. Then she said, "Visitors are sup hands on his knees. A nearby table held that. Toyingwith the third button ofhis
posed to notify us before they arrive to a potted plant with several delicate yel dungaree shirt, he turned his gaze to
see a patient. We have our schedules to low flowers. The floor was made of ward the pine trees outside and then
meet, and the wishes of the patient must some soft material to prevent injury in back again to his father.
also be taken into account." case of a fall. Tengo did not realize at "You have come from Tokyo, is it?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." first that the old man seated by the win his father asked.
"When was your last visit?" dow was h i s father .. He had shrunk "Yes, from Tokyo."
"Two years ago." "shrivellcd up" might be more accurate. "You must have come by express
"Two years ago," she said as she His hair was shorter and as white as a train."
checked the list of visitors with a ball frost-covered lawn. His cheeks were "That's right,"Tcngo said. "As far as
point pen in hand. "You mean to say sW1ken, which may have been why the Tateyama. Then 1 transferred to a local
that you have not made a single visit in hollows of his t')'eS looked much bigger for the trip here to Chikura."
two years?" than t h e y had before. Three deep "You've come to swim?" his father
"That's right," Tengo said. creases marked his forehead. His eye asked.
"According to our records, you arc brows were extremely long and thick, "I'm Tengo. Tengo Kawana. Your
"
Mr. Kawana's only relative." and his pointed ears were larger than son.
"That is correct." ever, the')' looked like bat wings. From a The wrinkles in his father's forehead
She glanced at Tengo, but she said distance, he seemed less like a human deepened. "A lot of people tell lies be
notl1ing. Her eyes were not blaming being than like some kind of creature, a cause they don't want to pay their NHK
him, just checking the facts. Apparently, rat or a squirrel-a creature with some subscription fee."
Tengo's case was not exceptional. cunning. He v,ras, however, Tengo' s fa "Father!" Tengo called out to him.
"At tl1e moment, your father is in tl1er--or, rather, the wreckage ofTen He had not spoken the word in a very
group rehabilitation. That will end in go's father. The father that Tengo re long time. "I'mTengo. Your son."
half an hour. You can see him then." membered was a tough, hardworking "1 don't have a son," his father
"How is he doing?" man. Introspection and imagination declared.
"Physically, he's healthy. It's in the might have been foreign to him, but he "You don't have a son," Tengo re-
other area that he has his ups and had his own moral code and a strong peated mechanically.
downs," she said, tapping her temple sense of purpose. The man Tengo saw I-lls father nodded.
with an index finger. before him v,ras nothing but an empty "So what am I?"Tengo asked.
Tengo thanked her and went to shell. "You're nothing," his father said vvith
wait in the lounge by the entrance, "Mr. Kawana!" ilie nurse said to Ten two short shakes of the head.
reading more of his book. A breeze go's father in the crisp, clear tone she Tengo caught his breath. He could
passed through now and then, carrying must have been trained to use when ad- find no words. Nor did his father have