Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/68

54 *Tsugi.—Is that really true?
 * Wife.—If we could get enough to keep the life in us, none of us would ever go into such a place. We hunger and we thirst, and we cannot overcome it, so we must be fed, and so to get our daily food we must turn to, and be treated shamefully.
 * Tsugi.—Yes, the hardest thing in life is to live.(A boy from a wine merchant’s shop comes in from the back door.)
 * Boy.—Please excuse me, I am behind time.
 * Tsugi.—Have you brought miso?
 * Boy.—Yes, Miss; also some kindling wood and salt. (The boy seems to be peering intently under the floor at the door.)
 * Tsugi.—What are you looking for? Have you lost something?
 * Boy.—I am seeking for a dog.
 * Tsugi.—Dog! Why, there is no dog here. There may be a few rats under the floor, but there is certainly no dog there!
 * Boy.—It might come here, Miss.
 * Tsugi.—If you play with dogs instead of hurrying with your rounds I will have to tell your master.
 * Boy.—I don’t mind if you do, Miss.
 * Tsugi.—O, what a naughty boy you are!
 * Boy.—All the same, if I find it, it might bring me 500 yen.
 * Wife.—What are you talking about? What is likely to bring you such a sum?
 * Boy.—You know that big new brick house that belongs