Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/41

Rh *Kakutaro.—Yes, they did. They still say that I am enchanted by a fox, and as the villagers don’t know that you come down here to take your bath, they cannot believe that it is a real person who comes at night, and think it is a fox.
 * The Fox.—Ha! Ha! Ha! (She laughs very loudly.) And do they say I am a fox?
 * Kakutaro.—Yes, they do. Your skin is so white that they believe that such a person as you could not possibly dwell upon this earth, and so they declare you are a fox.
 * The Fox.—Ho! Ho! Ho! It is funny, very funny! … I’m no fox, I am Rosa, and you know that I am and believe me, don’t you?
 * Kakutaro.—Of course I do, but since you are staying at the villa, I have been thinking that perhaps you have some disease, and so come here to take the hot-spring baths. Oh, Rosa-san, are you not already cured?
 * The Fox.—Yes, I am quite well now. The hot-spring water here is wonderful and would cure any disease. Look! (She rolls up her sleeves and shows him her wrists.) My body is all as beautiful as this. It is very white as you can see.
 * Kakutaro.—But, on that… that elbow you have some sore. It is quite a pretty one, just like a ruby!
 * The Fox.—Oh, do you mean this? (She rolls up her sleeve still further, and shows him something.) This is not a sore at all. I assure you it is a pure ruby. People are apt to think it a sore, but I am deceiving