Page:The Cannery Boat.pdf/56

46 Tsukaru Strait and come to snowy Hokkaido. In the crab ships were many such ones who had been driven off their own lands by other people.

In the mainland the workers united into one huge mass and resisted the capitalists. But workers in the colonies were cut off completely from any such things.

Before bed the fishermen stripped off their shirts, which had become hard like dried fish with grime, and spread them before the stove. Standing round in a circle, they each held an edge of the clothes and, when they became hot, waved them up and down. Fleas and bugs fell on top of the stove and crackled, smelling disgustingly. When the shirts got so hot that the fleas could not bear it they came out from the seams, scurrying along in a frenzy.

“Here, take hold of the end.”

Getting someone to hold one end of his loincloth, one man unrolled it and started catching fleas.

But in spite of such precaution the men were not able to sleep. All night long they were attacked by lice and fleas and bugs. No matter how they tried they could not exterminate them all. As soon as they got up into their bunks dozens of fleas would start crawling stealthily up their legs.

At first they had been allowed a bath every other day, and even then their bodies were always smelly and dirty. After a week it became every third day, and after about a month once a week. Finally they were reduced to twice a month. This was to save water. But the captain and the boss had a bath every day. The men became filthy with the