?Akira, give them back to the little lady now.?
?They aren?t nearly as good as mine.?
?Now Akira, that?s not a nice thing to say. You know everyone isn?t as lucky as you.?
Mariko reached for the binoculars and this time the boy let go.
?Say thank you to the little lady,? said his mother. The boy said nothing and started to walk away. The mother laughed a little.
?Thank you very much,? she said to Mariko. ?You were vety kind.? Then she smiled in turn towards Sachiko and myself. ?Splendid scenery, isn?t it?? she said. ?I do hope you have a nice day.?
The path was covered with pine needles and rose up the side of the mountain in zig-zags. We walked at an easy pace, often stopping to rest. Mariko was quiet and ? rather to my surprise ? showed no signs of wishing to misbehave. She did however display a curious reluctance to walk alongside her mother and myself. One moment she would be lagging behind, causing us to cast anxious glances over our shoulders; the next moment, she would go running past us and walk on ahead.
We met the American woman for the second time an hour or so after we had disembarked from the cablecar. She and her companion were coming back down the path and, recognizing us, gave cheerful greetings. The tubby boy, coming behind them, ignored us. As she passed, the American woman said something to Sachiko in English, and when Sachiko replied, gave a loud laugh. She seemed to want to stop and talk, but the Japanese woman and her son did not break their step; the American woman waved and walked on.
When I complimented Sachiko on her command of English, she laughed and said nothing. The encounter, I noticed, had had a curious effect upon her. She became quiet, and walked on beside me as if lost in thought. Then, when Mariko had once more rushed on ahead, she said to me: ?My father was a highly respected man, Etsuko. Highly respected indeed. But his foreign connections almost resulted in my marriage proposal being withdrawn.? She smiled slightly and shook her head. ?How odd, Etsuko. That all seems like another age now.?
?Yes, I said. ?Things have changed so much.?
The path bent sharply and began to climb again. The trees fell away and suddenly the sky seemed huge all around us. Up ahead, Mariko shouted something and pointed. Then she hunted on excitedly.
?I never saw a great deal of my father,? Sachiko said. ?He was abroad much of the time, in Europe and America. When I was young, I used to dream I?d go to America one day, that I?d go there and become a film actress. My mother used to laugh at me. But my father told me if I learnt my English well enough, I could easily become a business girl. I used to enjoy learning English.?
Mariko had stopped at what looked like a plateau. She shouted something to us again. ?I remember once,? Sachiko went on, ?my father brought a book back from America for me, an English version of A Christmas Carol. That became something of an ambition of mine, Etsuko. 1 wanted to learn English well enough to read that book. Unfortunately, I never had the chance. When I married, my husband forbade me to continue learning. In fact, he made me throw the book away.?
?That seems rather a pity,? I said.
?My husband was like that, Etsuko. Very strict and very patriotic. He was never the most considerate of men. But he came from a highly distinguished family and my parents considered it a good match. I didn?t protest when he forbade me to study English. After all, there seemed little point any more.?
We reached the spot where Mariko was standing; it was a square area of ground that jutted off the edge of the path, bound in by several large boulders. A thick tree trunk fallen on to its side had been converted into a bench, the top surface having been smoothed and flattened. Sachiko and I sat down to recover our breath.
?Don?t go too near the edge, Mariko,? Sachiko called. The little girl had walked out to the boulders and was looking at the view with her binoculars.
I had a rather precarious feeling, perched on the edge of that mountain looking out over such a view; a long way down below us, we could see the harbour looking like a dense piece of machinery left in the water. Across the harbour, on the opposite bank, rose the series of hills that led into Nagasaki. The land at the foot of the hills was busy with houses and buildings. Far over to our right, the harbour opened out on to the sea.
We sat there for a while, recovering our breath and enjoying the breeze. Then! said:
wouldn?t think anything had ever happened here, would you? Everything so full of life. But all that area down there? ? I waved my hand at the view below us ? ?all that area was so badly hit when the bomb fell. But look at it now.?
Sachiko nodded, then turned to me with a smile.? How cheerful you are today. Etsuko,? she said.
?But it?s so good to come out here. Today I?ve decided I?m going to be optimistic. I?m determined to have a happy r future. Mrs. Fujiwara always tells me how important it is to
keep looking forward. And she?s right. If people didn?t do that, then all this? ? I pointed again at the view ? ?all this would still be rubble.?
Sachiko smiled again. ?Yes, as you say, Etsuko. It would all be rubble.? For a few moments, she continued to gaze at the view below us. ?Incidentally, Etsuko,? she said, after a while, ?your friend, Mrs. Eujiwara. I assume she lost her family in the war.?
I nodded. ?She had five children. And her husband was an important man in Nagasaki. When the bomb fell, they all died except her eldest son. It must have been such a blow to her, but she just kept going.?
?Yes,? said Sachiko, nodding slowly, ?I thought something of that nature had happened. And did she always have that noodle shop of hers??
?No, of course not. Her husband was an important man. That was only afterwards, after she lost everything. Whenever I see her, I think to myself I have to be like her, I should keep looking forward. Because in many ways, she lost more than I did. After all, look at me now, I?m about to start a family of my own.?
?Yes, how right you are.? The wind had disturbed Sachiko?s carefully combed hair. She passed her hand through it, then took a deep breath, ?How right you are Etsuko, we shouldn?t keep looking back to the past. The war destroyed many things for me, but I still have my daughter. As you say, we have to keep looking forward,?
?You know,? I said, ?it?s only in the last few days I?ve really thought about what it?s going to be like. To have a child,
