Night on the Milky Way Railway

by Kenji Miyazawa

  "Umm..."

  Unsure of what to do, Giovanni began to fidget about, but Campanella casually handed over a small gray ticket as if it were no big deal.

  Now Giovanni really started to panic, and thinking that his ticket might be in his coat pocket, he quickly shoved his hand into his pocket and came upon a large folded up piece of paper. Wondering how such a thing could have gotten into his pocket, he quickly pulled it out and saw that it was a green piece of paper about the size of a postcard folded twice-over. Giovanni placed it straight into the conductor's outstretched hand, thinking anything had to be better than nothing. The conductor stood up straight and began carefully unfolding it. As he started reading it, he began straightening his uniform and adjusting the buttons on his jacket, while the lighthouse keeper also peered up at it with a look of utmost interest on his face. Thinking he must have handed over some kind of identity card, Giovanni suddenly began to get all nervous.

  "Did you bring this with you from the three-dimensional world?" asked the conductor.

  "I don't know what it is," replied Giovanni, smiling up at the conductor as though confident everything would now be alright.

  "That's fine. We arrive at Southern Cross at around the next hour of three," said the conductor, returning the paper to Giovanni and walking off.

  Campanella couldn't wait to see what was written on the paper, and hurriedly leaned across to take a look. Giovanni himself was dying to see what it was. Printed on the inside of the paper was a black interlacing pattern, with around ten weird looking characters written inside, and as Giovanni sat staring silently at it, he felt as though he were being slowly sucked inside. After glancing over, the bird catcher was unable to hide his surprise,

  "Whoa, you've got something special there! With that ticket, you can go all the way to Heaven. And not just Heaven; you can go wherever you want. So you've got one of those, have you?! Well of course you can go forever on this never-ending magical Milky Way Railway of the fourth dimension! You two are very special indeed."

  "I don't know what it is," repeated Giovanni, his face reddening as he folded up the ticket and put it back in his pocket.

  Feeling embarrassed, Giovanni turned to look out the window together with Campanella, but occasionally he could feel the bird catcher shooting glances their way; as if to remind them just how special they were.

  "We're nearly at Eagle Station," said Campanella comparing the three small pale-blue signal towers lined up along the opposite shore with his map.

  For some reason that he was unable to understand, Giovanni was suddenly overcome with pity for the bird catcher that was sitting beside him. When Giovanni thought about this man – the way he thought catching heron was so invigorating; the way he wrapped them up in that white cloth; not to mention the way he was so surprised when he looked over Giovanni's shoulder at the ticket and started showering them with praise - it made him feel like giving this complete stranger everything, all the food that he had. Why, if it would make the bird catcher truly happy, Giovanni would gladly stand on the shore of that sparkling Celestial River for a hundred years catching birds for him, and suddenly he felt compelled to tell him so. He was about to ask the bird catcher, What is it that you really want? but then he thought better of asking such a direct question.

  As he sat thinking about what to say, he glanced over his shoulder and discovered that the bird catcher was no longer there. The white bundles on the luggage rack had also disappeared. Giovanni then turned to look out the window, expecting to see the bird catcher with his feet planted on the shore staring up at the sky, getting ready to catch some more herons, but the only thing to see out there was a beautiful bed of sand and rolling waves of white silver grass, and there was no sign of the bird catcher's broad shoulders or his pointy hat.

  "Where'd he go?" asked Campanella absent-mindedly.

  "Yeah, where did he go? I'm sure we will see him again somewhere. For some reason, I found it hard to talk to him."

  "Yeah, I felt the same."

  "I felt like he was kind of in the way. It was really hard for me."

  This was the first time Giovanni had ever had such a strange feeling, and he couldn't remember ever having said such a thing before.

  "I can smell apples. I wonder if that's because I was just thinking of apples," said Campanella, looking all around, a curious look on his face.

  "I can smell them too. And I can smell baby rose," said Giovanni, who was also looking all about. But it seemed that the fragrance was coming in through the window. Giovanni thought that he shouldn't be able to smell baby rose, because it was autumn and baby rose bloomed in early summer.

  Suddenly there appeared a boy with shiny black hair, around six years of age. He had on a red jacket with all the buttons undone, and was standing there trembling all over with a look of complete shock. Standing beside him like a zelkova tree being buffeted by strong winds, was a tall young man dressed neatly in black, and he was holding firmly to the little boy's hand.

  "Oh, where are we now? Oh, it's really beautiful."

  A pretty brown-eyed girl of about twelve, wearing a black overcoat, was holding onto the young man's arm from behind as she stared with wonder out the window.

  "Ah, we are in Lancashire," said the young man. "No, no, it's Connecticut. No, wait, we are up in the sky. We are on our way to heaven. Look at that. That's the symbol for heaven. We've nothing to be afraid of now. We have been called by God," he said to the girl, his face beaming with joy.

  But soon a deep furrow returned to his forehead, and although obviously exhausted, he forced a smile as he sat the little boy down next to Giovanni.

  He then gently guided the young girl into the seat next to Campanella. The girl sat quietly down, folding her hands neatly on her lap.

  "I want to go with big sis'," said the boy, a painful expression on his face, to the young man who had just taken a seat opposite the lighthouse keeper. A look of immense sadness spread over the young man's face as he sat staring at the little boy's wet curly hair. The girl put both hands up to her face and started to cry.

  "Your sister Kikuyo and Papa still have work to take care of. But they'll be along soon enough. Rather, how about Mama? She's been waiting a long time to see you! Mama would have been terribly worried about you all this time; wondering what songs her precious little Tadashi was singing, and whether you were playing Ring Around the Rosie with everybody on mornings when it was snowing in the garden. Let's go see Mama."

  "Yeah. But I wish we hadn't gotten on that ship."

  "Yes, I know. But take a look out that window. Look at that beautiful river. Remember last summer, when it was bedtime, we sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, and you could see all the stars shining from outside your window? That's them right there. Aren't they beautiful? So bright."

  The boy's elder sister wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and also turned to look out the window. The young man continued talking to the children in a gentle voice as if he were instructing them.

  "There's no reason for any of us to be sad anymore. We get to travel through this amazing place and soon we'll be with God. And where God is, everything is bright and smells magnificent and there are many wonderful people. And those people that were able to make it onto the boat instead of us, I'm sure they will have been saved, and they'll go back to their mamas and papas and their families who were all anxiously waiting for them. Well, we don't have far to go now, so cheer up and let's sing a happy song."

  The young man ran his hand through the boy's damp black hair, the glow returning to his face as he comforted the children.

  "Where have you all come from? What happened to you?" asked the lighthouse keeper, as though he had finally gained some idea of who these people were.

  A gentle smile appeared on the young man's face.

  "Ah, we hit an iceberg and our ship sank. We were on our way to meet up with their father who had already returned home on urgent business some two months ago. I am a universit
y student, and I was employed as their tutor. But around the twelfth day, today or perhaps yesterday, the ship hit an iceberg and in no time at all it lurched over and began to sink. There was a small smattering of moonlight, but everything was covered in a very heavy fog. To make matters worse, more than half of the lifeboats on the port side were out of reach, so there weren't nearly enough lifeboats for all of the passengers.

  "I knew the ship could sink at any moment so I began pleading at the top of my voice for people to let the children onto the lifeboats. People nearby quickly made way, and started to pray for the children. But in front of the lifeboats there were so many other small children, as well as their parents and others, and I hadn't the courage to push my way past them. But still, I felt it was my duty to do all that I could to save these children, so I decided to push past those children that were in front. But then it occurred to me that, rather than saving them in such a fashion, I could bring them greater happiness if I were to accompany them to the place of God.

  "But then, my mind shifted again, and I decided that I must save these children at all costs, and I alone would bear the sin for turning my back on God. But as I watched on, I realized that there was just no way that I could. I saw mothers that were beside themselves as they placed their children alone in lifeboats and kissed them goodbye; I saw fathers standing by, their heads held high, doing what they could to hide their despair; it was utterly heartbreaking.

  "And soon the ship began to sink into the ocean, so preparing myself for the worst, I decided that I would hold tightly to these two and try and float for as long as I could, and we huddled together waiting for the ship to sink. Someone threw a lifebuoy toward us but it slipped out of my fingers and passed out of reach. I hurriedly ripped away some of the grating on the deck, and the three of us clung tightly to it. From somewhere, I could hear someone singing Nearer, My God, To Thee. And soon everyone joined in, in all their different languages. Just then the ship gave out a massive crack, like metal giving way, and we all fell into the water. I held tightly to the children as we were being pulled into a whirlpool, and then everything became a blur… and the next thing I knew we were here.

  "These children lost their mother the year before last. I am sure those people that made it to the lifeboats would have been rescued. After all, they had very experienced sailors to quickly row them away from the sinking ship."

  Suddenly there was only the sound of someone praying softly, and Giovanni and Campanella began to remember things they had forgotten; tears welling up in their eyes.

  I wonder if that big ocean he was talking about was the Pacific. Pa is way up near the north pole, icebergs floating in the sea, working his heart out on a tiny little boat; fighting against the wind, freezing ocean water and extreme cold so he can bring me a warmer coat. And Ma is terribly worried about him, and now she's sick, and I need to get her milk for her.

  It makes me so sad, and I wish there was something I could do for them. But what can I do to make them happy?

  Giovanni's head hung low and he became all gloomy.

  "It's impossible to know what happiness is," said the lighthouse keeper, offering the young man words of comfort. "No matter how terrible something is, if it happens while you are walking on the right path; every step you take, whether it be up or down the mountain, takes you closer to true happiness."

  "Yes, that's true. And all of that sorrow that we experience in order to attain the ultimate happiness is God's work," replied the young man as if he were reciting a prayer.

  The boy and his sister were now slumped in their seats, fast asleep. Their feet, bare when they first appeared, were now fitted in soft white shoes.

  The train continued chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, along the bank of the glittering phosphorescent river. Out of the opposite window the field looked like a scene from a magic lantern. There were hundreds, or perhaps thousands of signal towers of all sizes. On top of the large towers were white survey flags with red dots, and the far end of the field was covered in so many of them, it appeared like a massive pale-blue mist. And every now and then, from out of their midst, or perhaps from further beyond, flares of all shapes and sizes, rose up into the beautiful purplish-blue sky, one after another. The beautiful transparent wind was truly filled with the scent of roses.

  "What do you think of these? I bet you've never seen apples like these before."

  The lighthouse keeper was holding several large apples on his lap, of a beautiful gold and crimson color, supporting them with both hands to stop them from falling.

  "Oh, where did you get those? They are beauties! Can you grow apples like that here?" The young man was really quite astonished and completely forgot himself, staring in wonder at the pile of apples in the lighthouse keeper's hands from all angles.

  "Go on, take one. Please, go ahead."

  The young man took an apple and then looked over at Giovanni and Campanella.

  "And how about you kids there? Would you like an apple? Please have one too."

  Giovanni didn't say anything because he didn't like being called a 'kid,' but Campanella said "Yes please," and so the young man grabbed an apple for each of them and passed them over, so Giovanni stood up to say thank you.

  Now with his hands free once again, the lighthouse keeper stood up and quietly placed one each beside the sleeping children.

  "Thank you kindly. Where do you grow such wonderful apples," asked the young man, as he studied the apple intently.

  "Although people do farm around here, most of the time things just grow on their own. Farming here is not difficult at all. Most of the time, all you need to do is plant the seed for what you wish to grow, and it will grow up all on its own. Even the rice here, it is ten times bigger than that grown around the Pacific and it has a magnificent aroma without any hull. Although, where you are going, there is no farming.

  "The food here, whether it be apples or even candy, has no waste parts, and it gives the people who eat it a beautiful unique aroma that seeps through the pores of their skin."

  Suddenly the little boy opened his eyes.

  "I just had a dream about Mama. She was in a place with all these wonderful cupboards and books, and she was smiling happily at me. I said, 'Mama, do you want me to go get some apples for you?' and then I woke up. Oh, this is the train we were riding on before."

  "There's the apple there," said the young man. "This gentleman gave it to you."

  "Thank you Mister. Is Kaoru still sleeping? I'll wake her up. Look sis'! The man gave us apples. Wake up."

  His sister woke with a smile, rubbing her eyes with both hands to shade them from the sudden brightness, and then looked down at the apple. They began peeling the apples with glittering knives that had appeared from somewhere, but it was soon apparent that they didn't need peeling at all. The little boy had already started eating his like it was a pie, and the beautiful skin, peeled so carefully, twisted round and round like a cork screw, and then turned a misty gray and disappeared into thin air before it could fall to the floor.

  Giovanni and Campanella placed their apples carefully in their pockets.

  "Where are we now?" asked Giovanni.

  "Just here," answered Campanella pointing to a place just south of Eagle Station.

  "Have we already passed Eagle Station?"

  "Yeah. We passed it when that man was talking about the ship."

  On the opposite river bank was a large, lush green forest, the branches of its trees covered in bright red, fully-ripened fruit, a huge signal tower at its center. From out of the forest came music of inexpressible beauty, like a combination of a bell lyre and a xylophone, melting and diffusing into the wind as it floated upon it.

  The young man gave an involuntary shiver.

  Listening quietly to that music brought to mind images of a huge brightly lit field, or yellow and lime green carpet, spreading out in front of one, or an image of a dewdrop like pure-white wax, grazing against the surface of the sun.

  "Ah, lo
ok at those crows!" exclaimed the girl called Kaoru, sitting beside Campanella.

  "They're not crows! They're magpies!" shot back Campanella without thinking. He sounded as if he were scolding her, and Giovanni laughed as before, but the girl became embarrassed. Hundreds and hundreds of black birds were all standing on top of the pale-blue light of the shore, their bodies gently reflecting the light from the river.

  "Yes, they are magpies alright. You can tell by the feathers standing upright at the back of their head," said the young man, trying to make peace between the two children.

  The signal tower in the middle of the distant green forest was now directly in front of them.

  And then, from down the very back of the train, came the sound of that familiar hymn, Nearer, My God, To Thee. It sounded as if it were being hummed by a large chorus of people. The face of the young man turned pale, and for a moment he stood up, ready to join them, but then he changed his mind and sat back down again. Kaoru put her handkerchief up to her face. Even Giovanni felt a tingling sensation in his nose. And then somebody began to sing, and the singing quickly became louder and clearer. Without thinking Giovanni and Campanella also joined in.

  Gradually the forest of green olive trees moved to the rear of the train, flashing with light as it faded from view on the other side of the invisible Celestial River. The mysterious sound of the musical instruments coming from that direction was whittled down by the wind and the vibrations of the train, eventually becoming no more than a whisper.

  "Look, there are peacocks there."

  "Yes! There's lots of them," answered the girl.

  Giovanni was watching the pale-blue light reflected off the wings of the peacocks as they fanned them in and out, creating flashes above the forest as it receded further and further; now no bigger than a mother-of-pearl button.

  "Ah, it was the singing of peacocks that we could hear," said Campanella to Kaoru.