Maing-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 i. Gra 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 aing I mig ent of our daily scicular caugerest,    around opinions for a , and sicles    I never once saw her pick up a paper.

        "I like to o read to me," 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."

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

        taking tter coffee, I sloic1e to Izumi. Id read a feo myself, mull over o put to Japaranslate aloud. A fe a previous er 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.

        "t ; she asked.

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

        "But s?"

        I stuffed t. "I    doesnt say."

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

        "er 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.

        " 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 lig up ts dev tant seagulls srayed on ty and t    a purcuation. I took a deep breat turo Izumi.

        "I ;

        "t it. If you    tos?"

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

        Izumi didnt laugook a drag on te and ever slo out a stream of smoke. "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 ."

        "Sound iing," I said.

        "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 uand? Youre y, aually 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?"

        Izumi and I ment on a small Greek island. It    exactly a tourist spot, so t    lay urkey, 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 iohis.

        tment in Unoki, in tokyo. Not a spacious place, just your basic, funal 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 pany t specialized in book and magazine layouts. Calling me a "designer" makes it sound more t -and-dried. Not or imaginative. Most of time, our sc too id several times a monto pull an all-nig to tears. Still, I didnt mind ty, I o pid d say pretty mucever ed to. My boss    along    ayed ure. And my life, like ter t makes up tio floly; into the sea.

        But t Izumi.

        Izumi en years you at a business meeting. Somet time     ofte 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?" I asked. e    to a small bar and    recall exactly alked about, but opid could alked forever. ity, I could grasp everyted to say. And t explain o anyone else came across to    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;love". It otal empathy.

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

        o bed, but art sleeping togeto our spouses up to t point, but some feel guilty, for t . Undressing     a natural extension of our versations. 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 vi 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 partmentalized yet totally intimate relationship.

        And if notinued like t forever, sipping our vodka-and-tonics, slippis ired of lying to our spouses and decided to let tura1 deat urn to fortable little life styles. Eit turned out badly. I t prove it; I just    fee1ing. But a t of fate -- iable, irospect -- intervened, and Izumis    er grilling o my otally out of trol. As luck    time, and turned ugly.     I explain ed everyt very ory. I told my ly s not like Im in love," I explained. "Its a special relations p1etely different from ecte4 anyt? t proves its not t;

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

        At a plete 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," s;I dont knoo do. Everytll never be t; Ss. I ed to fort    w could I possibly say?

        "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.

        "Greece" I asked,

        "e t very ay in Japan," so my eyes.

        I tur follohe logic.

        "Ive aled to go to Greece," 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."

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

        "Forty t a feryside," Izumi said. Dist plaickets    us back around four t leaves ty-six. Figure a ts enoug do you say? Lets go. ell let t t later on."

        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?

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

        At    day, I ter nation. My boss    it    to put me oended leave for time being. My colleagues artled to    1 ed to quit, but no oried very o talk me out of it. Quitting a job is not so difficult, after all, I discovered. Onake up your mind to get rid of somettle you t 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 g 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 lio my o Izumi. I suddenly felt as if I     sensation. tting on t plaacself to some ve packaging t looked like me. My mind ter co go back to Japan a baside my real body. But , flying ypt, and turning back. temporarily occupyi as if it    of plaster. If I scratco srollably, and I couldnt stop. I kne if tinued mud turn to dust. tioned, but I broke out in a s. My s stuy skin. An aig say a    s on food 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 fag us on t total lack of to do. e didnt ennis courts or books to read. ed left Japan so abruptly t I ely fotten t 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 jugations 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 erman. Frenchough, was useless.

        ito do,    catc t er oo clear. Fis 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, te us to a beer. Once, a fisopus.

        "You could make a living doing portraits, Izumi said. "Yood, and you could male a tle business out of it. Play up t t youre a Japaist. t be many of t;

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

        "And Ill be a tour coordinator for Japaourists," Izumi tinued. "time goes by, and t    means Ill o get serious about learning Greek."

        "Do you really two and a ; I asked.

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

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

        Izumi stared straig me, pursed o one side.

        "Say I gnant;" s; ect yourself t you , but people make mistakes. If t    pretty quick"

        If it es to t, ; I said.

        "You do. do you?" sly "e ever go back to Japan."

        Izumi tinued 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 ing 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; trohe more money we had.

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

        Izumi seemed to    to ed ion d looked at me ";

        "I     piree 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. ted I became. t seemed possessed, jumping around, its fur standing on end. It     I. couldnt. Finally, it started rag around and around tree, just like tiger in Little Black Sambo. t scree abrupt    and scrambled up tree to t branc make out its little faost branc ill excited and te    at somets name, but it acted like it didnt ;

        " s name?" Izumi asked.

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

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

        "I suppose," I said. "But I ill a kid tive t t o live up io be some reason t it couldnt e do on t tree, o see t peeking out bet;

        Izumi seemed to    i. S    me.

        "Do you t your cime?" She asked.

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

        "Dont you    to see ;

        "Sometime I do," 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.

        "If you    to go back to Japan, do me stop you," lzumi said, "Dont    me. Id manage some;

        I nodded. But I k    going to happen.

        "I ;Like you    ;

        I laug;Maybe so," I said.

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

        "Its still m", I said.

        "s ?"

        "Not a t; I said.

        Later,    t my c to ty; I fumbled for t, 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," I called out in a small voiot again, time more loudly. My    pounded. as t souoo 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 di 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, sparkli    an illusion.

        I tugged on a ter and a pair of jeans, snatcable, put t, and    outside. Izumi must rouble sleeping and go 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 musid 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 "Zorba t;? A bouzouki? But w? And where?

        to be ing 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 ba 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 quid 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 ba Unoki. tion Id left betle jazz colley specialty    of ties and sixties. Leristano, Al    of t of print, and it aken a lot of time and moo collect tly made trades ors, slo ;first-rate." But I loved timate atmospy old records veyed. tty dull place if it -rate, rigail of ts came bae ? t and    of the albums in my hands.

        But ed 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 lorusted my o my sciousness ? 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 skien as surfading its a plays tricks s disappear. Maybe it     one night long ago.

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

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

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