Chapter 6

Hello there," the old man called out.

The large, elderly black tomcat raised its head a fraction and wearily returned the

greeting in a low voice.

"A very nice spell of weather we're having."

"Um," the cat said.

"Not a cloud in the sky."

"... for the time being."

"Is the weather going to take a turn for the worse, then?"

"It feels like it'll cloud up toward evening." The black cat slowly stretched out a

leg, then narrowed its eyes and gave the old man another good long look.

With a big grin on his face, the man stared right back. The cat hesitated for a

time, then plunged ahead and spoke. "Hmm... so you're able to speak."

"That's right," the old man said bashfully. To show his respect, he took off his

threadbare cotton hiking hat. "Not that I can speak to every cat I meet, but if

things go well I can. Like right now."

"Interesting," the cat said simply.

"Do you mind if I sit down here for a while? Nakata's a little tired from

walking."

The black cat languidly rose to its feet, whiskers atwitch, and yawned so

tremendously its jaw looked almost unhinged. "I don't mind. Or perhaps I should

say it's not up to me. You can sit anywhere you like. Nobody's going to bother

you for that."

"Thank you kindly," the man said, lowering himself down beside the cat. "Boy

oh boy, I've been walking since six this morning."

"Um... I take it, then, that you're Mr. Nakata?"

"That's right. Nakata's the name. And you would be?"

"I forget my name," the cat said. "I had one, I know I did, but somewhere along

the line I didn't need it anymore. So it's slipped my mind."

"I know. It's easy to forget things you don't need anymore. Nakata's exactly the

same way," the man said, scratching his head. "So what you're saying, Mr. Cat, is

that you don't belong to some family somewhere?"

"A long time ago I did. But not anymore. Some families in the neighborhood

give me food to eat now and then, but none of them own me."

Nakata nodded and was silent for a time, then said, "Would you mind very

much, then, if I called you Otsuka?"

"Otsuka?" the cat said, looking at him in surprise. "What are you talking about?

Why do I have to be Otsuka?"

"No special reason. The name just came to me. Nakata just picked one out of a

hat. It makes things a lot easier for me if you have a name. That way somebody

like me, who isn't very bright, can organize things better. For instance, I can say,

On this day of this month I spoke with the black cat Otsuka in a vacant lot in the

2-chome neighborhood. It helps me remember."

"Interesting," the cat said. "Not that I totally follow you. Cats can get by without

names. We go by smell, shape, things of this nature. As long as we know these

things, there're no worries for us."

"Nakata understands completely. But you know, Mr. Otsuka, people don't work

that way. We need dates and names to remember all kinds of things."

The cat gave a snort. "Sounds like a pain to me."

"You're absolutely right. There's so much we have to remember, it is a pain.

Nakata has to remember the name of the Governor, bus numbers. Still, you don't

mind if I call you Otsuka? Maybe it's a little unpleasant for you?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I suppose it isn't all that pleasant.... Not that it's

particularly unpleasant, you understand. So I guess I don't really mind. You want

to call me Otsuka, be my guest. I'll admit, though, that it doesn't sound right

when you call me that."

"Nakata's very happy to hear you say that. Thank you so much, Mr. Otsuka."

"I must say that for a human you have an odd way of talking," Otsuka

commented.

"Yes, everybody tells me that. But this is the only way Nakata can speak. I try to

talk normally but this is what happens. Nakata's not very bright, you see. I wasn't

always this way, but when I was little I was in an accident and I've been dumb

ever since.

Nakata can't write. Or read a book or a newspaper."

"Not to boast or anything, but I can't write either," the cat said, licking the pads

of his right paw. "I'd say my mind is average, though, so I've never found it

inconvenient."

"In the cat world that's to be expected," Nakata said. "But in the human world if

you can't read or write you're considered dumb. Nakata's father—he passed away

a long time ago—was a famous professor in a university. His specialty was

something called theery of fine ants. I have two younger brothers, and they're

both very bright. One of them works at a company, and he's a depart mint chief.

My other brother works at a place called the minis tree of trade and indus tree.

They both live in huge houses and eat eel. Nakata's the only one who isn't

bright."

"But you're able to talk with cats."

"That's correct," Nakata said.

"Then you're not so dumb after all."

"Yes. No... I mean, Nakata doesn't really know about that, but ever since I was

little people said You're dumb, you're dumb, so I suppose I must be. I can't read

the names of stations so I can't buy a ticket and take a train. If I show my

handycap pass, though, they let me ride the city bus."

"Interesting...," Otsuka said without much interest.

"If you can't read or write you can't find a job."

"Then how do you make a living?"

"I get a sub city."

"Sub city?"

"The Governor gives me money. I live in a little room in an apartment in Nogata

called the Shoeiso. And I eat three meals a day."

"Sounds like a pretty good life. To me, at least."

"You're right. It is a pretty good life. Nakata can keep out of the wind and rain,

and I have everything I need. And sometimes, like now, people ask me to help

them find cats. They give me a present when I do. But I've got to keep this a

secret from the Governor, so don't tell anybody. They might cut down my sub

city if they find out I have some extra money coming in. It's never a lot, but

thanks to it I can eat eel every once in a while. Nakata loves eel."

"I like eel too. Though I only had it once, a long time ago, and can't really recall

what it tastes like."

"Eel is quite a treat. There's something different about it, compared to other food.

Certain foods can take the place of others, but as far as I know, nothing can take

the place of eel."

On the road in front of the empty lot a young man walked by with a large

Labrador retriever with a red bandanna tied around its neck. It glanced over at

Otsuka but walked on by. The old man and the cat sat there in the lot, silently

waiting for the dog and his master to disappear.

"You said you look for cats?" Otsuka asked.

"That's correct. I search for lost cats. I can speak with cats a little, so I go all over

tracking down ones that have gone missing. People hear that Nakata's good at

this, so they come and ask me to look for their lost cats. These days I spend more

days than not out searching for cats. I don't like to go too far away, so I just look

for them inside Nakano Ward. Otherwise I'll be the one lost and they'll be out

looking for me."

"So right now you're searching for a lost cat?"

"Yes, that's correct. Nakata's looking for a one-year-old tortoiseshell cat named

Goma. Here's a photo of her." Nakata pulled a color copy out of his canvas

shoulder bag and showed it to Otsuka. "She's wearing a brown flea collar."

Otsuka stretched out to gaze at the photograph, then shook his head.

"No, 'fraid I've never run across this one. I know most of the cats around here,

but this one I don't know. Never seen, or heard, anything about her."

"Is that right?"

"Have you been looking for her for a long time?"

"Well, today is, let me see... one, two, three... the third day."

Otsuka sat there thinking for a time. "I assume you're aware of this, but cats are

creatures of habit. Usually they live very ordered lives, and unless something

extraordinary happens they generally try to keep to their routine. What might

disrupt this is either sex or an accident—one of the two."

"Nakata's thinking the same thing."

"If it's sex, then you just have to wait till they get it out of their system and

they'll be back. You do understand what I mean by sex?"

"I haven't done it myself, but I think I understand. It has to do with your weenie,

right?"

"That's right. It's all about the weenie." Otsuka nodded, a serious look on his

face.

"But if we're talking about an accident, you might never see her again."

"That's true."

"Also, sometimes when a cat's on the prowl for sex it might wander off and have

trouble finding its way back home again."

"If Nakata went out of Nakano Ward, finding my way home wouldn't be easy."

"That's happened to me a few times. Course that was a long time ago, when I

was much younger," Otsuka said, eyes narrowed as he searched his memory.

"Once you're lost, you panic. You're in total despair, not knowing what to do. I

hate it when that happens. Sex can be a real pain that way, course when you get

in the mood all you can think about is what's right under your nose—that's sex,

all right. So that cat—what was her name? The one that's lost?"

"Do you mean Goma?"

"Yes, of course. Goma. I'd like to do what I can to help you find her. A young

tortoiseshell cat like that, with some nice family taking care of her, wouldn't

know the first thing about making her way in the world. Wouldn't be able to fight

off anybody or fend for herself, the poor thing. Unfortunately, however, I've

never seen her. I think you might want to search somewhere else."

"Well, then, I suppose I should follow your advice and go to some other place to

look. Nakata's very sorry to have interrupted your nap. I'm sure I'll stop by here

again sometime, so if you spot Goma in the meantime, please let me know. I'd

like to give you something for your help."

"No need—I enjoyed talking with you. Feel free to drop by again. On sunny

days this is where you'll mostly find me. When it rains I'm generally in that

shrine over there where the steps go down."

"Well, thank you very much. Nakata was very happy, too, to be able to talk with

you, Mr. Otsuka. I can't always speak so easily to every cat I meet. Sometimes

when I try the cat is on his guard and runs away without saying a word. When all

I ever said was hello."

"I can well imagine. There're all sorts of cats—just like there're all sorts of

people."

"That's exactly right. Nakata feels the same way. There are all kinds of people in

the world, and all kinds of cats."

Otsuka stretched and looked up at the sky. Golden sunlight filled the vacant lot

but the air held a hint of rain, something Otsuka was able to sense. "Didn't you

say that when you were little you had an accident, and that's why you're not so

smart?"

"Yes, that's right. That's exactly what Nakata said. I had an accident when I was

nine years old."

"What sort of accident?"

"Nakata can't really remember. They don't know why, but I had a high fever for

about three weeks. I was unconscious the whole time. I was asleep in a bed in a

hospital, they told me, with an intra venus in me. And when I finally woke up, I

couldn't remember a thing. I'd forgotten my father's face, my mother's face, how

to read, how to add, what my house looked like inside. Even my own name. My

head was completely empty, like a bathtub after you pull the plug. They tell me

before the accident Nakata always got good grades. But once I collapsed and

woke up I was dumb. My mother died a long time ago, but she used to cry about

this a lot. Because I got stupid. My father never cried, but he was always angry."

"Instead of being smart, though, you found yourself able to talk with cats."

"That's correct."

"Interesting...."

"Besides that, I'm always healthy and haven't been sick once. I don't have any

cavities, and don't have to wear glasses."

"As far as I can tell, you seem fairly intelligent."

"Is that so?" Nakata said, inclining his head. "Nakata's well past sixty now, Mr.

Otsuka. Once I got past sixty I was quite used to being dumb, and people not

having anything to do with me. You can survive without riding trains. Father's

dead, so nobody hits me anymore. Mother's dead too, so she doesn't cry. So

actually, if you say I'm pretty smart, it's a bit upsetting. You see, if I'm not dumb

then the Governor won't give me a sub city anymore, and no more special bus

pass. If the Governor says, You're not dumb after all, then Nakata doesn't know

what to say. So this is fine, being dumb."

"What I'm trying to say is your problem isn't that you're dumb," Otsuka said, an

earnest look on his face.

"Really?"

"Your problem is that your shadow is a bit—how should I put it? Faint. I thought

this the first time I laid eyes on you, that the shadow you cast on the ground is

only half as dark as that of ordinary people."

"I see...."

"I ran across another person like that once."

Mouth slightly ajar, Nakata stared at Otsuka. "You mean you saw somebody like

Nakata?"

"Yes, I did. That's why I wasn't so surprised that you could talk to cats."

"When was that?"

"A long time ago, when I was still a youngster. But I can't remember the details

—the person's face or name or where and when we met. As I said before, cats

don't have that sort of memory."

"I see."

"That person's shadow, too, looked like half of it had gotten separated from him.

It was as faint as yours."

"I see."

"What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching

for the other half of your shadow."

Nakata tugged a few times at the bill of his hat in his hands. "To tell the truth,

Nakata's had that feeling before. That my shadow is weak. Other people might

not notice, but I do."

"That's good, then," the cat said.

"But I'm already old, and may not live much longer. Mother's already dead.

Father's already dead. Whether you're smart or dumb, can read or can't, whether

you've got a shadow or not, once the time comes, everybody passes on. You die

and they cremate you. You turn into ashes and they bury you at a place called

Karasuyama.

Karasuyama's in Setagaya Ward. Once they bury you there, though, you

probably can't think about anything anymore. And if you can't think, then you

can't get confused. So isn't the way I am now just fine? What I can do, while I'm

alive, is never go out of Nakano Ward. But when I die, I'll have to go to

Karasuyama. That can't be helped."

"What you think about it is entirely up to you, of course," Otsuka said, and again

began licking the pads of his paw. "Though you should consider how your

shadow feels about it. It might have a bit of an inferiority complex—as a

shadow, that is. If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I

should be."

"I understand," Nakata said. "You may well be right. Nakata's never thought

about it. I'll think about it more after I get home."

"An excellent idea."

The two of them were silent for a while. Nakata quietly stood up, carefully

brushing away stray bits of grass from his trousers, and put on his threadbare hat.

He adjusted it a few times, until he got the angle just right. He shouldered his

canvas bag and said, "Thank you very kindly. Nakata really values your

opinions, Mr. Otsuka. I hope you stay happy and well."

"You too."

After Nakata left, Otsuka lay down again in the grass and closed his eyes. There

was still some time before the clouds would come and the rain would start. His

mind a blank, he fell asleep for a short nap.