Plantains, growing on the site of a castle, have borne fruit and red clovers have withered and turned dark brown. Millets in the field have been harvested.
"They've harvested millets," the rats popped their heads out of the hole and pulled it into the nest in a hurry.
The site was surrounded by a moat, and its cliff was covered with Japanese pampas grass which was quivering in the wind, and a thicket was on the low square-shape hill in the middle of the site, where an ampelopsis bore its rainbow-color fruit which had ripened. Due to a sun shower, dew drops on the grass were sparkling, and the mountains over there got dark, but after it had gone, dew drops on the grass were more sparkling, and the mountains had turned bright and glittering. From there a flock of butcherbirds flew scattering and perched together on the silver ears of Japanese pampas grass,
The ampelopsis was moved so much by the scene that he gave a deep sigh and dripped drops from the leaves.
A chilly wind blew over the gray mountains in the east, and a huge rainbow arched over them like a dream bridge.
The sap in the ampelopsis beat fast. She had seriously wished to talk with the beautiful rainbow. She wanted to tell him how strong and how heart-rending her thoughts about him were. If she was able to do it, she wouldn't care about falling asleep during the bright, white, but cold winter or she'd be dead forever.
"Mr. Rainbow! Have a look at me!" with her hoarse voice she cried: it was usually clear, but it seemed to lose clearness because she was tense.
The kind rainbow looked down at the ampelopsis.
"Ms. Ampelopsis, what can I do for you?"
She said to him joyfully,
"I'd like to give my highest respect to you."
The rainbow, giving a deep sigh, and said to the ampelopsis,
"It's me that must give my highest respect to you. What makes you so sad?"
"Soon I'll be dead."
"Why do you say such a thing? You're still young. Besides, we have two months before winter comes."
"My life is not so important any more. I don't mind being dead 100 times as long as you are going to be more splendid."
"It's you that are splendid, because you'll never disappear like me. I'm a powerless existence. My life is only 10 minutes or 15 minutes, sometimes only 3 seconds. On the contrary, your beauty will never disappear."
"No, I'll also disappear. I'll be thrown away by the autumn wind and be covered with snow to be rotten among the dead grass in winter."
The rainbow smiled at the ampelopsis.
"There's nothing that can remain as they are forever in this world. Look at the sky over there. It is now blue like malachite, but when the sun starts sinking beyond the mountains, it will be yellow and silver in the twilight and it will turn the night sky with the twinkling stars. At that time, where will I be? Where will I be born again? The beautiful hills and field under me are changing bit by bit being eroded."
"But you can arch in the bright sky, when all the grass, all the flowers and all the birds look up to you."
"The same to you. What makes me bright will also brighten you and the splendid words given to me will be given to you, too."
"Please enlighten me! Please take me to wherever you go. I'll do whatever you want me to do."
"I'll go nowhere. I'm always with you. Those who live with me always follow me and never go out of existence. Soon you'll lose sight of me, because the sun is now in the distance. The birds have flown away toward the east. I must say good-by to you,"
A whistle in the station rang sharply.
The ampelopsis cried to the rainbow,
"Mr. Rainbow, please take me. Please never leave me alone."
The rainbow seemed to have smiled at the ampelopsis, but it was so vague.
At last the rainbow perfectly disappeared.
A butcherbird was chirping so noisily and a skylark started chirping out of tune.(2011/06/01 With Itaya) Original by 'Kenji Miyazawa'
English Reading by George Cooney
