munist Party, never sparing my strength, even risking my life..”
Wait, that sounds a bit fishy, thought Tokimoto, why does he say “for the Communist Party,” why doesn’t he say for the working class? The speaker raised his voice a pitch higher.
“But the leaders of the Communist Party, while we were fighting grimly, what were they doing? They were in the Red Light district and in geisha houses squandering the money they’d got from Russia on debauchery.” His tone was one or outraged indignation. With a start, Tokimoto realized that it was all a put-up game. The fellow was clearly just a puppet of the ruling class. Tokimoto strained his ears to catch what he’d come out with next.
“Therefore I became thoroughly fed up with Communism. The principles seem sound enough, but those who try to follow them out in the end only become the dupes of the leaders. Gentlemen, I confess my mistakes and repent of them. If you follow in my footsteps, you’ll get the same bad deal from those leaders. And now I am going to give you testimony to let you see with your own eyes how deeply I regret my past. I am not disloyal. I swear before you all that I am an obedient subject of His Majesty, the Emperor. Here is proof of it, here.” He fished out something from his pocket. A knife. Then he laid his left hand on the table, with the knife flourished in the air, ready to be lowered, he paused some moments. He glanced over at the engineers’ seats. They were sitting back is if witnessing a show. The lecturer
