Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan, volume 2.pdf/74

58 * it was of me to lie there in bed like that! I almost made up my mind to kick the wretched phonograph off the chair, to spring up, and to run away with you to some lonely mountain, and to hide there away from everyone. A great tumult was going on in my mind, just as anyone feels deep self-reproach after committing some great sin. I experienced a feeling of deep repentance, and a kind of self-hatred. But I didn’t want you to know how I felt at the time, and tried to calm myself by appearing undisturbed.
 * Wife.—I really don’t know if you are talking seriously or not, my dear.
 * Husband.—Neither do I! (A long silence)
 * Wife.—I often used to feel very lonely, but somehow I got so used to it that I don’t worry about it so much nowadays.
 * Husband.—What’s the use of worrying? Later on you will learn what I am intending to do. I am thinking only of how to make you happy.
 * Wife.—You are talking nonsense again!
 * Husband.—Don’t you believe what I say? Well, I shall tell you what I am expecting to do. You remember that when we went to Ogikubo some time ago, you saw a pretty house there surrounded with lawn. Do you remember saying how much you would love to live in such a home?
 * Wife.—What kind of a house was it?
 * Husband.—Have you forgotten it? Don’t you remember … only last spring … how you