Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/69

Rh to a new rich? Well, a dog has run away from there, and the one who finds it is to receive 500 yen.
 * Wife.—Shame on the owner I say! To spend 500 yen on a dog that has strayed is scandalous, when there are so many people these days suffering for want of food. If he can spend so much money on a dog, why doesn’t he spend it on the needy?
 * Boy.—Yes, and they say that every day his dog is fed with the best beef that money can buy.
 * Wife.—And his poor servants are fed on the cheapest Chinese rice, I daresay!
 * Tsugi.—I think it is very wasteful to spend all that money on a dog.
 * Wife.—But, my child, there is often much money where it is not needed. Those who do not want often have too much.
 * Tsugi.—And some of us need it so badly, and we cannot get it. Oh, if only we had had enough money, I should never have lost my dear mother and brother.
 * Wife.—I think that perhaps you are wrong there, Miss Tsugi. Very often the rich die young, because they are rich.
 * Tsugi.—What is the reason?
 * Boy.—Perhaps it is because they eat too much. Ha, ha, ha! (He puts his box on his shoulder quickly.) Good-bye, and many thanks. (He passes out of the door, shutting it behind him.)
 * Wife.—Oh, I have been talking too long. I must go