Page:Tayama Katai and His Novel Entitled Futon (Reece).pdf/109

 His conscience as a mentor suddenly assailed Tokio and he was saddened at the turn of affairs affecting Yoshiko in her daily life.

"He worried seriously about Yoshiko's love affair and her subsequent life. He compared their ennui, weariness, and callousness, after living together, with his own experiences. And, he sympathized with a woman's pitiful situation having submitted to a man's will."

Opposed to his conscience, Tokio suffers intense agony with suspicion of having being deceived by Yoshiko. Tokio gets steadily angrier because he has tried with sincerity to help Yoshiko's love affair with Tanaka. Tokio seems to assert that a mentor is no different from an ordinary man who is disturbed by this type of situation.

"In that case--Tokio was no longer required to honor her virginity as she had already given herself to Tanaka. He might as well have gone ahead and obtained satisfaction for his own lust. When Tokio thought along these lines, Yoshiko, whom he had placed on a pedestal, now seemed to him like a streetwalker, and he began to think that not only her body but also her refined manners were distasteful."

When Yoshiko disclosed in a letter to Tokio that she is a depraved student and deceived him, Tokio springs up holding her letter, and speaks to Yoshiko. In Tokio's subsequent outburst, he seems to have no room for considering the reasons why Yoshiko has made such a daring confession to him:

""Once things have gone so far, there is no more hope. I can't help you any more. I return this letter to you and swear to keep this matter secret. In any case, your attitude of trusting me as your mentor is nothing to be ashamed of in a modern Japanese woman. However, seeing that things have gone so far, you ought to go home.""