Man-Eating-Cats

    by haruki Murakami

    ttranslated by Philip Gabriel

    I boug ticle about an old s. Sy years old and lived alone in a small suburb of At sort of life, just s in a small one-room apartment. One day, s attack, most likely. Nobody kneer s ives or friends rapped. t any food in tment. Granted, t cats  evolved to t arvation, to devour their owners flesh.

    I read ticle to Izumi, o t t door to tax office, and Id summarize in Japanese anyteresting I mig ent of our daily scicular caugerest,  around opinions for a , and sicles  I never once saw her pick up a paper.

    quot;I like to o read to me,quot; s;Its been my dream ever since.

    I  in a sunny place, gave at to me. I dont care extbook, a novel. It doesnt matter. But no ones ever read to me before. So I suppose t means youre making up for all t opportunities. Besides, I love your voice.quot;

    e . And I enjoyed reading aloud. o read picture books aloud to my son. Reading aloud is different from just sentences e unexpected  I find impossible to resist.

    taking tter coffee, I sloic1e to Izumi. Id read a feo myself, mull over o put to Japanese, translate aloud. A fe a previous customer spilled on table. t a moment lapping it up, to table a couple of times, and ttled once more on tabletop. After I icle, Izumi sat ting on table. S tips of t  t to form a tent. I rested t  me tween her fingers.

    quot;t ; she asked.

    quot;ts itquot; I replied, and folded up took a  of my pocket and ;At least, ts all it says.quot;

    quot;But s?quot;

    I stuffed t. quot;I  doesnt say.quot;

    Izumi pursed o one side, t1e .  to give an opinion ? ion ? s, as if s to smoot a stray   quite charming.

    quot;Neter ell you  to kno;

    Sook a Salem out of its box, put it in ruck a matc up by t smoke. My wife , five years ear1ier, w.

    quot; I really  to kno; Izumi began, tte silently curling up into t;is s afteries kill ten ougime of it, give t on t do you t;

    I gazed at table and t about it. For a fleeting instant; tless little bees licking up ts devouring tant seagulls srayed on ty and t  a purcuation. I took a deep breat turned to Izumi.

    quot;I ;

    quot;t it. If you  tos?quot;

    quot; putting titution to reform t; I said. quot;turn to vegetarians.quot;

    Izumi didnt laugook a drag on te and ever slo out a stream of smoke. quot;t story reminds me of a lecture I  after I started at my Catell you I  to a very strict Cat after trance ceremony, one of torium, and t up to talk about Catrine. Sold us a lot of t  ? actually, tory about being s island .quot;

    quot;Sound interesting,quot; I said.

    quot;Youre in a sold us. t to t are you and a cat. You land on some nameless desert island, and to eat. All yon er and dry biscuit to sustain one person for about ten days. S, everyone, Id like you to imagine yourselves in tuation. Close your eyes and try to picture it. You alone on t island, just you and t. You  no food at all. Do you understand? Youre y, and eventually youll die.  sore of food ? No you s. t ake. You are all precious beings, c is not. ts  s could possibly be t of telling a story like t to kids arted at t,  kind of place  myself into?quot;

    Izumi and I ment on a small Greek island. It  exactly a tourist spot, so t  lay near turkey, and on clear day you could just make out turkisains. On o turkiso t closest Greek island, and t before our eyes -- was Asia Minor.

    In toatue of a ion on t turks,  turk captured  o deat up a sake in tripped to it. t of ake t of il it finally came out of ing o die. tatue ed on t  built, it must  no, and seagull droppings, von could barely make out tures. tatue a passing glance, and for  turned he world.

    at our outdoor cafe, drinking coffee or beer, aimlessly gazing at t in t turkisting at t tro color filled t made me feel as if I 1y sy, somet out of reac strangely gentle. And t substance colored the harbor.

    At times, I couldnt grasp t t I  of tter ook in tter ion bethis.

    tment in Unoki, in tokyo. Not a spacious place, just your basic, functional apartment. My ment , ake ama River. In spring, trees by t my son on to cokyo Giants triple A team in spring training.

    I  a medium-sized design company t specialized in book and magazine layouts. Calling me a quot;designerquot; makes it sound more t -and-dried. Not or imaginative. Most of time, our sc too ic, and several times a monto pull an all-nig to tears. Still, I didnt mind ty, I o pick and c and say pretty mucever ed to. My boss  along  ayed ure. And my life, like ter t makes up tinued to floly; into the sea.

    But t Izumi.

    Izumi en years younger t at a business meeting. Somet time   often. e met a couple of times after t, to go over tails of our joint project. Id go to ings   over me; as if sometely vital c felt like t in years. And I t the same way.

    A er, s some minor matter and ed for a bit. I told a joke, and s;ant to go out for a drink?quot; I asked. e  to a small bar and  recall exactly alked about, but opics and could alked forever. ity, I could grasp everyted to say. And t explain o anyone else came across to ness t took me by surprise. e s about our married lives. e loved our spouses and respected till, to  people go tire lives  meeting a person like t. It o label t;lovequot;. It otal empathy.

    e started going out regularly for drinks.   late, so so come and go as s togetime just fle our c  train. It ed to tell eacher.

    Neito bed, but art sleeping togeto our spouses up to t point, but some feel guilty, for t . Undressing   a natural extension of our conversations. So natural t our lovemaking  a source of rending p  a calm, pleasant act, stripped of all pretense. Best of all  talks in bed after sex. Id s in our oe language.

    e met rangely, ely convinced t our relationsion, our oions our affair o lig  ing anyone? On nig  e and o make up some lie to tell my  it never seemed be an actual betrayal. Izumi and I rictly compartmentalized yet totally intimate relationship.

    And if notinued like t forever, sipping our vodka-and-tonics, slipping bets ired of lying to our spouses and decided to let tura1 deat urn to comfortable little life styles. Eit turned out badly. I cant prove it; I just  fee1ing. But a t of fate -- inevitable, in retrospect -- intervened, and Izumis  er grilling o my otally out of control. As luck  time, and turned ugly.   I explain ed everyt very ory. I told my ly s not like Im in love,quot; I explained. quot;Its a special relations comp1etely different from ecte4 anyt? t proves its not t;

    But my o listen. It  speak anoto me. t day, so s place, in Caking our son imes, but s come to tead. quot;I dont  to ; ;and to let my daugo a bastard like you.quot;  against our marriage from tart, and one of voice said .

    At a complete loss, I took a fe lay forlornly alone in bd. Izumi poo.   not before slapping . aken a pair of scissors to every stitc to  all lay in tatters. S;Im exed,quot; s;I dont knoo do. Everytll never be t; Ss. I ed to comfort  w could I possibly say?

    quot;Lets go some to Sil dra an allnig for me, Daiquiris for  track of  time since ,  o say. At doo  at a Dennys. ts o Greece.

    quot;Greecequot; I asked,

    quot;e cant very ay in Japan,quot; so my eyes.

    I turned t follohe logic.

    quot;Ive aled to go to Greece,quot; s;Its been my dream. I ed to go on my   s go ? t live t anytaying in Japans just going to depress us, and not.quot;

    I didnt icular interest in Greece, but I o agree ed  forty thousand dollars.

    quot;Forty t a feryside,quot; Izumi said. Discount plane tickets  us back around four t leaves ty-six. Figure a ts enoug do you say? Lets go. ell let t t later on.quot;

    I looked around. ty. And surely taking all our money and fleeing to Greece after a disastrous affair.  a mess, I t. I gazed at t time. as t my life o?

    quot;All rig; I said finally. quot;Lets do it.quot;

    At  day, I ter of resignation. My boss  it  to put me on extended leave for time being. My colleagues artled to  1 ed to quit, but no one tried very o talk me out of it. Quitting a job is not so difficult, after all, I discovered. Once you make up your mind to get rid of somettle you cant discard. No ? not very little. Once you put your mind to it, t get rid of. And once you start tossing t, you find yourself ing to get rid of everyts as if youd gambled a all your money and decided,  t . too mucrouble to cling to t.

    I packed everyt and need into one medium-sized blue Samsonite suitcase. Izumi took about t of baggage.

    As , I errible fear t someone else aken my bag by mistake. to be tens of tical blue Samsonite bags in t to Greece, open up tcase, and find it stuffed y attack s over me. If tcase got lost, t to link me to my o Izumi. I suddenly felt as if I   sensation. tting on t plane tacself to some convenient packaging t looked like me. My mind ter co go back to Japan and get back inside my real body. But , flying over Egypt, and turning back. temporarily occupying felt as if it  of plaster. If I scratco srollably, and I couldnt stop. I kne if tinued muc and turn to dust. tioned, but I broke out in a s. My s stuck to my skin. An aig say a  s on for a good ed to die -- to stick trigger, so t my mind and my flesurn to dust.

    After t ligense so time. I fell into a deep sleep, and he Aegean.

    t problem facing us on t total lack of to do. e didnt ennis courts or books to read. ed left Japan so abruptly t I ely forgotten to bring books. I read t t, a copy of Aescragedies t

    Izumi  along. I read to cater to tourists, t tocked a fe my eye. Reading  if I ime Id , ironical1y, ime in to read.

    Izumi started studying Greek. S along a Greek-language text, and made a c of verb conjugations t sing verbs aloud like a spell. S to t alk to to ters o make a feances. Not to be outdone, I dusted off my Frenc tle island I never ran across a sou1 o get by alian or German. Frenchough, was useless.

    ito do,  catc t er oo clear. Fiso trying to catco be a pretty dumb fiso get caug ercolors at a local sramped around tc beside me, looking at my paintings, memorizing ions. Local people often came to cco kill time, Id drarait, ure, ten treat us to a beer. Once, a fisopus.

    quot;You could make a living doing portraits, Izumi said. quot;Youre good, and you could male a nice little business out of it. Play up t t youre a Japanese artist. Cant be many of t;

    I laug ured myself trekking around traits, enjoying t such a bad idea, I concluded.

    quot;And Ill be a tour coordinator for Japanese tourists,quot; Izumi continued. quot;time goes by, and t  means Ill o get serious about learning Greek.quot;

    quot;Do you really two and a ; I asked.

    quot;As long as  get robbed or sick or someto get by. Still, its alo prepare for ted.quot;

    Until t never been to a doctor, I told her.

    Izumi stared straig me, pursed o one side.

    quot;Say I got pregnant;quot; s; ect yourself t you can, but people make mistakes. If t  pretty quickquot;

    If it comes to t, ; I said.

    quot;You dont get it. do you?quot; sly quot;e can never go back to Japan.quot;

    Izumi continued udy of Greek, I my sketc peaceful time in my  er t on t  silence Izumi and I ly make love and talk about all kinds of t making t train, or coming up ell our spouses. It umn deepened bit by bit, and early er came on. tecaps in the sea.

    It ime t ory about ting cat. In t about tion  o ces. tinuing to gain against tal for us; tronger the more money we had.

    quot;Speaking of cats,quot; I said. a feer icle, quot; ;

    Izumi seemed to  to ed ion c and looked at me quot;;

    quot;I   pine tree in tall you could barely see top of it. One day, I ting on tortoises  by itself, ts do sometimes. It ely oblivious of t t I c. tcened I became. t seemed possessed, jumping around, its fur standing on end. It   I. couldnt. Finally, it started racing around and around tree, just like tiger in Little Black Sambo. t screeco an abrupt  and scrambled up tree to t branc make out its little face opmost branc ill excited and tense. It  at somets name, but it acted like it didnt ;

    quot; s name?quot; Izumi asked.

    quot;I forget,quot; I told ;Gradually, evening came on, and it greed for a long time for t to climb do got pitc again.quot;

    quot;ts not so unusual,quot; Izumi said. quot;Cats often disappear like t. Especially  overexcited and t remember o get  must ree and gone off somec;

    quot;I suppose,quot; I said. quot;But I ill a kid tive t t o live up in tree. to be some reason t it couldnt come do on t tree, o see t peeking out bet;

    Izumi seemed to  interest. S  me.

    quot;Do you t your cime?quot; She asked.

    I o respond. quot;Sometimes I do,quot; I said ly. quot;But not all time. Occasionally somet;

    quot;Dont you  to see ;

    quot;Sometime I do,quot; I said. But t  t t t o feel.  est t e, Id alo my sons room first, to see imes I o squeeze  break. No ions -- existed in a distant land. All I could recal1 y o take bative skin, so my  a special bar of soap just for  my o soap.

    quot;If you  to go back to Japan, dont let me stop you,quot; lzumi said, quot;Dont  me. Id manage some;

    I nodded. But I kne it  going to happen.

    quot;I ;Like you  ;

    I laug;Maybe so,quot; I said.

    Izumi crus te in tray and sig;Lets go ?quot; she said.

    quot;Its still morningquot;, I said.

    quot;s ?quot;

    quot;Not a t; I said.

    Later,  t my c to ty; I fumbled for tc on, and gazed around t as if someone olen in  dust all around. t Sa1em butts ray, a balled-up empty cigarette pack beside t out of bed and looked out at t t in tc at t yard. Just a pair of vinyl lounge c moonlig;Izumi,quot; I called out in a small voice. Not again, time more loudly. My  pounded. as t sounded too loud, unnatural. Still no reply. A faint breeze from tled tips of t t back to tco calm down.

    Radiant moonligc of some avant-garde play. I suddenly remembered; t t ree ly like t a er dinner t nigo to look for t. As t  ened. For some inexp1icab1e reason, I couldnt take my eyes off tree. From time to time I  I could make out ts eyes, sparkling bet it  an illusion.

    I tugged on a ter and a pair of jeans, snatcable, put t, and  outside. Izumi must rouble sleeping and gone out for a  o be it. tely died dorack. Izumi must o to t miss s in t dyeing t looked like ttom of the sea.

    About o t sound of music and came to a . At first I t it ening carefully, I o make out a melody. I ened as  about it, it rument. Live, unamplified music. But rument ? trument t Anto in quot;Zorba t;? A bouzouki? But w? And where?

    to be coming from t top of tood at t to do, o take. Izumi must  t. And I inct feeling t if so.

    I took turned rig trees lining t knee-inct t too. tive flaso it. I imagined some sort of banquet being op of t earlier t day, at t be t, going on into t.

    Just t warning -- I disappeared.

    Maybe it , or t midnigep I took, I felt myself sinking deeper into a quicksand y vanis ion Id . t me . It  me but a stand-in, fas of plaster. I rubbed my  my face. But it  my face. And it  my  pounded in my c, sending t a crazy speed. ter puppet, a voodoo doll into , p going tions. I , to be some sacrifice.

    So whe real me? I wondered.

    Suddenly, Izumis voice came out of nos. anding s en you all up. All ts left is bones.

    I looked around. It reiny she voice had been n my head.

    Stop ts, I told myself. As if trying to avoid a o a rock at ttom of t tired, I told myself, and over doesnt matter  grab someto my pocket for ty in my hand.

    I tried o tment back in Unoki. tion Id left betle jazz collection. My specialty  of ties and sixties. Lennie tristano, Al  of t of print, and it aken a lot of time and money to collect tly made trades ors, slo ;first-rate.quot; But I loved timate atmospy old records conveyed. tty dull place if it -rate, rigail of ts came back to me ? t and  of the albums in my hands.

    But noerated time would I hose records.

    I remembered tobacco ed ed o , and never let go.

    t the music.

    opped playing? Certainly t y. After all, it o begin , too, irely possible. I no longer trusted my o my consciousness ? dropped a ted line doo t darkness. Bu I couldnt  even an echo.

    I looked at my c s. I didnt really care about time. I looked up at ts skin eaten as surface ending its a plays tricks s disappear. Maybe it   one night long ago.

    I stretc my arms, my fingers. Sinue, or go back t o go on living, all by myself on ter island? S ogethe fragile, provisional me

    I continued to climb up as est of clues remained. In five minutes, I . to to totering of street lig t road. tain ion  a lively festival aken place  while before.

    I returned to ttage and doried to go to sleep, bit I couldnt. Until tern sky gres, starving to deatment. I -- ting my flesing into my , sucking My blood, devouring my penis. Far aips of tongues licked t folds of my mind. And h each lick my consciousness flickered like a flame and faded away.