Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan/Volume 2/The Patron Saint of a Shop-boy

by Naoya Shiga

The Patron Saint of
a Shop-boy

By
Naoya Shiga

(A Short Story),

Translated by
Eiji Ukai and Eric S. Bell.

 

Naoyu Shiga

 

Naoya Shiga

Naoya Shiga, the author of the following and other stories in this book, was born in the 16th year of Meiji (1883), in the town of Ishinomaki, in the province of Miyagi, Japan.

He was educated at the Peers’ School in Tokyo, and after graduating from there, he entered the College of Literature of the Tokyo Imperial University, but did not quite finish his course in that institution.

He first became known by the publication of ‘Shirakaba,’ which was edited in conjunction with Mr. Mushakoji, and the late Mr. Takeo Arishima.

His writing is serene and straightforward, and he is moderate in his opinions. He shows an extremely tender heart, and loves justice.

He is a ‘realist’ in style, and is always careful in his selection of subjects. His remarkable simplicity of expression has stamped him as an artist.

His best-known stories are as follows:—

‘Wakai’ (Reconciliation), ‘Haha no Shi to Atarashii Haha (The Mother’s Death and the New Mother), ‘An-ya Koro’ (Walking through Dark Streets), etc., etc.

He lives now in Nara, one of the famous old capitals of Japan, and is very very popular as a short story writer.

Eric S. Bell.

The Patron Saint of a Shop-boy

Senkichi was a little fellow apprenticed to a dealer in weights and measures.

It was a fine Autumn day. The mild sunshine was floating serenely into the front of the shop from beneath the noren-curtain, once indigo in colour, but now faded and old. There was no customer in the shop. Seated behind the counter was an elderly clerk, who was languidly smoking a cigarette. He was talking to another clerk, who was reading a newspaper beside a charcoal brazier.

“I say, Koh-san, the best season of the year for tunny-sushi has come. It’s your favourite dish, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“How about this evening? Shall we go and have some after the shop is shut?”

“It would be awfully nice!”

“It only takes a quarter of an hour by car, round the outer moat.”

“After once tasting the food cooked by that restaurant, one dislikes any of the cooking that one gets round about here.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Now Senkichi, the little apprentice-boy, who worked in the same shop, was sitting a little way behind the younger clerk. He had his hands folded under his apron, and listening to their conversation, he thought to himself, “They are talking about the sushi-restaurant.” Senkichi had often been sent on an errand to a certain dealer in weights and scales, whose name was S. His shop was situated in Kyobashi, and was very near this famous restaurant. The boy therefore knew quite well of its repute.

Senkichi, as he listened, was very envious of the clerks who were so free and in the position to visit such a place at will. As they continued to talk in this manner, making pretentions of their knowledge of delicacies, he found himself wishing he were their equal. Their conversation continued thus:

“I’m told that a son of Mr. Yohei has opened a tea-house somewhere near the Matsuya Department Store. Do you know anything about it, Koh-san?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t. Which Matsuya do you mean?”

“I’m not quite sure, but I suppose it is their store at Imagawa-bashi.”

“Oh, I see. Do they say the cooking there is very nice?”

“Yes, they say so.”

“Are you sure the restaurant is run by Mr. Yohei?”

“No, I’m not quite sure. Let me see … what is the name of the house? … Oh, I have forgotten it.”

Senkichi was listening intently, and casually remarked that there were many such noted restaurants in the city. Then he thought to himself, “In what way is the cooking so nice?” As he thought about these things, his mouth began to water, and he managed to swallow without making any sound.

A few days later, just before sunset, Senkichi was sent on a message to the shop kept by Mr. S. As he was leaving, the senior clerk gave him enough money for his return fare on the street car. Taking a car that followed round the outer moat, he got down at Kajibashi, and made his way to the front of the well-known sushi-restaurant. As he gazed longingly at the curtain hanging in front of the shop, he pictured to himself the clerks entering the plac later on, full of high spirits. He was very hungry, and as he thought of the inviting sushi, with strips of delicious tunny-fish upon it, he longed that he might taste it, even though it might be the smallest piece.

He had made it a rule for some time to save half of the fare that had been handed to him for the tram-rides. Whenever he was given money enough for a return fare, he usually walked one way, and so was able to save a few sen each time for himself. On this occasion the four sen which he had saved was jingling in his pocket.

“I could buy one piece of sushi for four sen,” he thought, “but how embarrassing it would be to ask only for one piece!” So he gave up the idea, and walked past the restaurant.

He completed his errand at Mr. S’s shop, and came away from there, carrying a small card-board box containing a number of little brass weights, and which weighed rather heavily.

Weighed down with his parcel he once more turned toward the sushi-restaurant, and on his way, just at the opposite comer of the cross road, he saw a sushi-stall, and in front of it hung a curtain bearing the same name as that of the big restaurant. He walked to it.

Mr. A., a young M.P., once heard his friend Mr. B. who was another M. P. talking boastfully of his epicurean tastes in this manner, “Unless you can come to appreciate sushi as served in a sushi-stall, fresh from the maker’s hands, and which you eat with your fingers, you can never truly appreciate the flavour of Japanese cooking.” Mr. A therefore made up his mind someday to try sushi, eating it standing up at some sushi-stall. He was told about a noted stall where a very delicious kind of sushi was procurable.

One day, soon after sunset, Mr. A., walking leisurely from the direction of the Ginza, passed Kyobashi, and made his way towards this noted stall. When he arrived there, he found two or three other customers standing. At first he hesitated, but after a moment he made up his mind to enter. As he was rather shy of mixing himself up with the other vulgar customers, he remained standing for a little while behind them.

Just then he noticed a small boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age pushing his way sideways into the stall. The boy edged Mr. A. aside, walked into the little space before him, and looked at the slanding counter on which some delicious sushi was invitingly displayed.

“Haven’t you any laver-sushi?” asked the boy.

“No, we haven’t got today,” answered the bulky keeper of the stall, and while shaping a rice ball with his hands, he stared at the boy, eyeing him from head to foot.

The boy at once made up his mind, and pretending that it was not the first time he had been in such a place, he stretched out his arm and picked up one of the three pieces of sushi which were decorated with tunny-fish. But although he seemed quite decided as to his wants, he timidly drew his arm back for an instant.

“It is six sen a piece, you know, my boy,” said the keeper of the stall.

The boy put the sushi back on the stand, but nearly let it fall.

“We don’t like you to touch it with your fingers, and then to put it back again.” After saying this, the man placed a new piece of sushi on the stand, and took the piece that the boy had discarded and placed it on the counter near where he was standing.

The boy was silent. He made a disappointed grimace, but seemed unable to move away. But after a moment he placked up courage and moved from the stall.

“At the present time the price of sushi Template:SUC rather high, you know, and I’m sorry that they are rather too high for a shop-boy,” said the keeper of the stall apologetically. After he had made another ball of sushi, he took up the piece which the boy had left, and carried it deftly to his own mouth.

“The other day I visited that sushi-stall you told me about.” said Mr. A. to Mr. B.

“And how did you enjoy the cooking there?”

“Oh, it was very delicious indeed! And by the way, I noticed that the people who were there were picking up the sushi in this manner … with the tunny-side down, and carrying it to their mouths rather rapidly. It seems to be the conventional way of eating it.”

“Well, yes. that seems to be the right way to eat tunny-sushi,” answered his friend.

“Why do you eat it with the fish-side down?”

“Because if the meat should not be very fresh, it would at once give your tongue a warning as soon as you put it into your mouth.”

“Ah! Your authority regarding sushi is very doubtful!” said Mr. A. laughingly.

Mr. A. then began to relate to his friend about the poor shop-boy that he saw there. I could not help being sorry for him,” he said. “I should have been pleased if I could have helped the poor youngster.”

“Surely you could have treated him to some. If you had given him as much as he could have eaten, how delighted he would have been!”

“Yes, the boy would have been pleased, but I should have been in a cold sweat with embarrassment!”

“Why a cold sweat? After all, you had but little courage!”

“I don’t know about courage, … but at any rate I could not bring myself to such a thing. If I had taken the boy away from there to some other restaurant, I perhaps should have been able to treat him to what he desired.”

“Yes, perhaps you were right,” answered Mr. B.

Mr. A. had a little boy of his own, whom he was sending to a kindergarten, and wishing to follow day by day the physical development of his child, he decided to provide his bath-room with a small platform scales. One day it happened that he visited the very shop in Kinda where the little apprentice Senkichi was serving.

When Mr. A. entered the shop, the boy did not recognise him, but he at once remembered the boy.

In one inner part of the house stood numerous kinds of scales, big and small. They were standing there in order of their height. Mr. A. selected the smallest among them. It was of the same design as is usually found on the railway-station or is seen standing in the offices of any forwarding-agents. Though it was the smallest size that they had, he imagined how this neat little machine would please his wife and child at home.

A clerk of the shop, note-book in hand, came and asked him, “Excuse me. Sir, but will you kindly give me your address?”

“Well,” said Mr. A. looking hesitatingly at the boy, “Is that boy of yours free now?”

“Yes, Sir, he is not specially busy…”

“Well, then, can he carry it to my house now, for I am rather in a hurry?”

“Certainly, sir, he can put it on a cart, and follow you to your home.”

Mr. A. now thought that, as he was not able to treat the boy as he wanted the other day, he would now find an opportunity of treating him to a dinner somewhere on the way to his home.

“And will you please write down your address here?” insisted the clerk, offering him another register when Mr. A. proceeded to pay for his purchase.

Mr. A. hesitated a little. He was not aware that it was a regulation that when buying scales one should give one’s address to the seller.

He felt a little ashamed of entertaining such a boy after allowing his name to be known. But he could see that he must do what was asked of him, so after a little more hesitation he wrote down a false address and handed it to the clerk.

Mr. A. walked loungingly away, and behind him, at some short distance walked the shop-doy, Senkichi, pulling his small cart with the scales upon it. When they arrived just in front of the house of a rickshaw-man, Mr. A. stopped and went into it, leaving the boy outside. He arranged with the rickshaw-man to transfer the scales on to his vehicle.

“Now, be sure,” said Mr. A., “to take it to my house. Your fare will be paid on delivery. Present this card, and my family will understand.” Saying this, he left the house, and said to Senkichi, “Thank you very much for carrying my scales this far, but before you return, I should like to entertain you by giving you a small meal. So will you come with me to the restaurant over there?” He smiled at the lad, and Senkichi felt very grateful to him for his kindness, but he also felt a little apprehensive over accepting the kind offer. But he was nevertheless very happy, and bowed his head many times to show his gratefulness.

They passed by a sushi-house, a sushi-stall, and a beef-restaurant. “I wonder where we are going,” thought she boy, beginning now to feel a trifle uneasy. They passed under the elevated railway at Kanda Station, and came to the Matsuya Department Store, and crossing over the tram-lines, they stopped in front of a small sushi-restaurant in a certain lane.

“Wait a little while, will you?” said Mr. A., and he entered the restaurant. The boy placed the shafts of his cart upon the ground and waited outside.

Soon Mr. A. came out of the restaurant, followed by the mistress of the establishment, who was rather young. She said to the boy, “Come in, young fellow!”

Mr. A. turned to the lad and said, “Now, my boy, go in, and eat as much as you want!” After saying this, he hurried towards that tramway and soon disappeared.

Senkichi did ample justice enough for three men. He ate his sushi ravenously, just as a hungy dog would have done after finding some unexpected food. There were no other customers in the restaurant, and as the windows had been closed by the woman, Senkichi had no need of keeping up appearances. He felt that he could eat to his heart’s content.

The mistress came to him, and pouring out a cup of tea for him, she said smilingly, “Won’t you have another dish?” The boy blushed a little, and said, “No, think you,” and hanging his head, he propared to leave.

“Will you please come again another time, and have same more? We have received too much money.”

The boy was silent.

“Have you been long acquainted with that gentleman?”

“No.”

“Well, …” said the mistress, and meeting the eyes of her husband who came into the shop at that moment, she added, “That gentleman is a gallant. Now, you must come again, young man, or we shall be at a loss what do with the excess money we have received from him.”

Parting from the boy, Mr. A. hurried to the traim, feeling as if he were being chased, and stopping a taxi which happened to be passing, he told the driver to take him to the home of Mr. B.

Mr. A. felt strangely lonely. He had heartily sympathised with the lad, for he realised his pathetic circumstances very well indeed. By chance he had been able to accomplish to-day what he had wished to do for some time. The boy must have been very happy, and he himself should have been satisfied by what he had done. To give happiness to others is of course not a bad act, and the person who does such an act should naturally feel pleased. Now what was the reason for this feeling of lonesomeness which stole over Mr. A? What on earth was the cause of it? He had the feeling of one who had secretly done something wrong.

Was it because he felt some vain pride at having done a good act, and that such pride was being criticised, betrayed and scorned by his natural conscience? He might have felt less concerned if he had looked upon his act with less exaggeration and with less nerves. Unconsciously he might have been over-biassed. At any rate he certainly had done nothing shameful. He therefore felt that he should at least have no cause to feel so uneasy.

According to a previous appointment, Mr. B. was waiting for him that afternoon, and in the evening getting into Mr. B’s car, they drove to a concert which was being given by Mrs. Y. Late that night Mr. A. returned home. After having listened to the music, he had quite forgotten his feeling of lonesomeness.

“Oh, thank you so such for the pretty scales, my dear,” said his wife, when he arrived home, and as he had supposed, she was very pleased with what he had bought for her. His child was already asleep, but his wife told him of the rapture of their child after it had seen the scales.

“By the way, you remember the shop-boy who I told you about some days ago ? Well, I met him again to-day.”

“O, dear! Where did you meet him?”

“I found that he was an apprentice in the shop where I bought the scales.”

“How strenge!”

Mr. A. then told his wife how he had entertained the lad, and of the strange feeling he had after he had done it.

“Why, what was the cause? It was strange to feel in that way!” his wife answered good-humouredly. She seemed to be musing, and then suddenly she remarked, “Yes, I can well understand your feelings, and once I had such an experience myself, my dear.”

“Then you can understand how I felt?”

“Yes, I quite understand. What did Mr. B. say about it?”

“I did not tell him.”

“Didn’t you? But the poor lad must have been very pleased, I’m sure! Anyone would have been happy to receive such unexpected treatment from a stranger. I should be happy too. Couldn’t we send for some of that sushi by telephone?”

Senkichi went back to his stop, pulling his empty cart. His stomach was more than full. Up to that time it was not a rare thing for him to have eaten much, but he could not remember ever being so content and satisfied with food as he had been on that day. Somehow his mind went back to his awkward situation a few days previous when he visited the sushi-stall, and it gradualy dawned upon him that there was some relation between his entertainment of to-day and that embarrassing occurrence.

“Was the gentleman at that stall on that day? Certainly he must have been!” thought he. But how did he find my address? Very strange! The house, however, where I was treated to-day was the very same restaurant that the clerks at our shop talked about. How in the world did the gentleman hear the talk of our clerks?”

It seemed a miracle to Senkichi. He did not dream that Mr. A. and Mr. B. had been discussing that same sushi-reataurant too. An idea then took strong hold of him. Mr. A. must have somehow heard the discussion of the two clerks, and so had decided to tread him to the same restaurant. If that had not been the case, then why did Mr. A. pick on that special house that day?

At any rate Senkichi began to think about Mr. A. as a most miraculous customer, and one who knew how he had been disgraced at the sushi-stall. He must have been aware of the clerks’ conversation, and must have been able to read their innermost thought into the bargain, and so had decided to treat him so splendidly, and in such a kind way. Snch a person must surely be above any ordinary man. “He may be a patron saint,” thought the boy, “or he may perhaps be a hermit, or a Fox-god.”

His reason for thinking him a Fox-god was because he had an aunt who was a strong believer in such a God, and who once had almost been beside herself in this belief. When possessed by the Fox-god, her body would tremble like an aspen-leaf, and at such time she would prophesy or guess what was happening at great distances. He had once seen her in such a state. “But for a Fox-god that gentleman was a little too stylish,” he thought. “At any rate he must be some kind of supernatural being!”

After a day or so, that strange feeling of lonesomeness passed from Mr. A’s mind. But his conscience smote him still rather queerly, and prevented him from passing again in front of the scales-shop in Kanda. Moreover he did not have any wish to revisit the sushi-restaurant.

“All the better, my dear,” said his wife laughing. “If you will send for the food, we shall all be able to share the delicacy.”

But Mr. A. did not laugh, and answered, “Being such a timid kind of man, I could not do such a thing without some reflection.”

To Senkichi, ‘that customer’ became an unforgettable factor in his mind. Whether ‘he’ was a human being or a supernatural one was no more a question with the lad. He was, however, not inclined to revisit the sushi-restaurant, though he remembered being invited so kindly to go again by the master and mistress of the establishment. He was not so insolent as to take advantage of their kindness.

In sorrow and pain he was sure never to forget ‘that customer.’ The mere remembrance was quite enough to console him. He believed that some day ‘that customer’ would again appear before his eyes with some expected favours.

 

The author lays down his pen here.

To tell the truth, he wanted to continue the story, with a description of the boy’s wish to ascertain who ‘that customer’ was, or of visiting him at the address which had been given to the senior clerk. The boy actually did visit the address that was given, but to his great astonishment he found that the number and address given was a small shrine dedicated to a Fox­ god … In this way the author wished to continue his story, but thinking that such an ending would be rather unkind to the boy, he decided to discontinue.

 

The End