'I'll know when I get there. So I'll start out going west on the To-mei Highway. After that I'll think about where I'll go. Anyhow, I have to go west.'
The two girls looked at each other, but Nakata's words were strangely persuasive and they found themselves feeling kindly toward the old man. They finished their lunches, tossed their empty cans in the trash, and stood up.
'Why don't you come with us?' the black-haired girl said. 'We'll figure something out.'
Nakata followed them into a nearby building. He'd never been in such a large building before. The two girls had him sit at a bench next to the reception desk, then spoke with the receptionist and told Nakata to wait there for a while. They disappeared into one of the elevator banks in the lobby. As Nakata sat there, umbrella and canvas bag in hand, office workers streamed back inside after their lunch hour. Another scene he'd never laid eyes on before in his life. As if by mutual consent, all the people were well dressed-ties, shiny briefcases, and high heels, everyone rushing off in the same direction. For the life of him Nakata couldn't understand what so many people like this could possibly be up to.
After a time the two girls were back, acccompanied by a gangly young man wearing a white shirt and striped tie.
'This is Mr. Togeguchi,' the brown-haired girl said. 'He's about to drive to Yokohama. And he said he'll take you with him. He'll drop you at the Kohoku parking lot on the Tomei Highway, and hopefully you'll be able to find another ride there. Just go around telling people you want to go west, and when someone gives you a ride be sure to buy them a meal when you stop somewhere. Do you follow?'
'But do you have enough money for that?' the black-haired one asked.
'Yes, I have enough.'
'Mr. Nakata's a friend of ours, so be nice to him,' the brown-haired girl said to Togeguchi.
'If you'll be nice to me,' the young man replied timidly.
'One of these days…,' the black-haired one said.
As they were saying good-bye, the girls said, 'Here's a little going-away present. For when you get hungry.' They handed him some rice balls and a bar of chocolate they'd bought at a convenience store.
'I don't know how to thank you enough for all you've done,' Nakata said. 'I'll be praying that good things happen to you both.'
'I hope your prayers come true,' the brown-haired one said as her companion giggled.
The young man, Togeguchi, had Nakata sit in the passenger seat of the Hi-Ace van, then drove down the Metropolitan Highway and onto the Tomei. The roads were backed up, so the two of them talked about all kinds of things as they inched along. Togeguchi was bashful, and didn't say much at first, but after he got used to having Nakata with him he started talking, to the point where it wound up less a conversation than a running monologue. There were a lot of things he wanted to talk about, and he found it easy to open up to a stranger like Nakata, whom he'd never see again. He explained that he'd broken up with his fiancee a few months ago. She'd had another boyfriend she'd been secretly seeing all the while. He said he didn't get along well with his bosses at work and was thinking of quitting. His parents had gotten divorced when he was in junior high, and his mother soon got remarried to some sleazeball. He'd lent money from his savings to a friend who didn't give any indication he'd be repaying him anytime soon. And the college student who lived in the apartment next door blasted his music so loud he couldn't get much sleep.
Nakata listened diligently, chiming in at appropriate points, tossing in an occasional opinion of his own. By the time their car pulled into the Kohoku parking area Nakata knew just about everything there was to know about the young man. There was a lot he didn't understand, but he did see the big picture of Togeguchi's life, namely that here was a poor young guy who, while trying to live an upright life, had his share of problems.
'Nakata's much obliged to you,' he said. 'Thank you so very much for the ride.'
'I enjoyed it. Thanks to you, Mr. Nakata, I feel completely relaxed now. I've never talked to anyone like this before, and I'm happy I could tell you everything. I hope I haven't bored you with all my problems.'
'No, not at all. Nakata's very happy, too, to be able to talk with you. I'm sure good things are going to happen to you, Mr. Togeguchi.'
The young man took a telephone card from his wallet and handed it to Nakata. 'Please take this card. My company makes them. Consider it a going-away present. I wish I could give you something better.'
'Thank you very much,' Nakata said, and carefully tucked it into his wallet. He had no one to phone, and didn't know how to use the card anyway, but he thought it was more polite to accept it. By now it was three p. m.
It took another hour to find someone willing to take him as far as Fujigawa. The trucker was a beefy man in his mid-forties, with arms like logs and a jutting belly, who was hauling fresh fish in a refrigerated truck.
'I hope you don't mind the fish smell,' the driver said.
'Fish are one of Nakata's favorites,' Nakata replied.
The driver laughed. 'You're a strange one, aren't you.'
'People tell me that sometimes.'
'I happen to like the strange ones,' the driver said. 'People who look normal and live a normal life-they're the ones you have to watch out for.'
'Is that so?'
'Believe me, that's how it goes. In my opinion, anyway.'
'Nakata doesn't have many opinions. Though I do like eel.'
'Well, that's an opinion. That you like eel.'
'Eel is an opinion?'
'Sure, saying you like eel's an opinion.'
Thus the two of them drove to Fujigawa. The driver said his name was Hagita.
'So, Mr. Nakata, what do you think about the way the world's going?' he asked.
'I'm very sorry, I'm not bright, so I have no idea at all about that,' Nakata said.
'Having your own opinion and not being very bright are two different things.'
'But Mr. Hagita, not being very bright means you can't think about things.'
'But you did say you like eel.'
'Yes, eel is one of Nakata's favorites.'
'That's a connection, see?'
'Um.'
'Do you like chicken and egg over rice?'
'Yes, that's one of Nakata's favorites too.'
'Well, there's a connection there, too,' Hagita said. 'You build up relationships like that one after another and before you know it you have meaning. The more connections, the deeper the meaning. Doesn't matter if it's eel, or rice bowls, or grilled fish, whatever. Get it?'
'No, I still don't understand. Does food make connections between things?'
'Not just food. Streetcars, the emperor, whatever.'
'But I don't ride streetcars.'
'That's fine. Look-what I'm getting at is no matter who or what you're dealing with, people build up meaning between themselves and the things around them. The important thing is whether this comes about naturally or not. Being bright has nothing to do with it. What matters is that you see things with your own eyes.'
'You're very bright, Mr. Hagita.'
Hagita let out a loud laugh. 'It isn't a question of intelligence. I'm not all that bright, I just have my own way of thinking. That's why people get disgusted with me. They accuse me of always bringing up things that are better left alone. If you try to use your head to think about things, people don't want to have anything to do with you.'
'Nakata still doesn't understand, but are you saying that there's a link between liking eel and liking chicken and egg over rice?'
'You could put it that way, I suppose. There's always going to be a connection between you, Mr. Nakata, and the things you deal with. Just like there's a connection between eel and rice bowls. And as the web of these connections spreads out, a relationship between you, Mr. Nakata, and capitalists and the proletariat naturally develops.'
'Pro-le-what?'
