Gon the Fox and Other Stories Read online

  This is the story his grandpa told.

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  This story of mine starts around fifty years ago, back when Japan was at war with Russia, and it's about me. In the village of Yanabe Shinden there was a thirteen year old boy named Minosuke.

  Minosuke had no parents and no siblings, nor did he have even a single relative. He was a true orphan. Minosuke did work for the other families in the village, running errands, threshing rice, even babysitting, which was normally done by girls. He would basically do anything a boy of Minosuke's age could do, and this allowed him to stay in the village.

  But the truth was, Minosuke didn't like having to rely on the generosity of other people in this way. He often thought to himself that if he had to spend his life babysitting or threshing rice every day, then there wasn't much point having been born a man.

  A man was supposed to make his own way in the world. But how could he do that? He was barely making ends meet. He didn't even have enough money to buy one book, and even if he did have the money, and actually bought it, he'd never have time to read it.

  Deep down, Minosuke was always waiting for a good opportunity to establish himself.

  Then early one afternoon, Minosuke was asked to help out with a rickshaw.

  In those days, there were always two or three rickshaw operators in Yanabe Shinden. Most of the people who traveled from Nagoya to go swimming in the ocean would take the steam train to Handa, and afterwards they'd take a rocky rickshaw ride the rest of the way from Handa to Ono, or Shinmaiko. Either way they would pass through Yanabe Shinden.

  Because the rickshaws were pulled by people, they didn't move very fast. And to get from Yanabe Shinden to Ono they needed to go over a mountain pass, which meant it took even longer than usual. To make matters worse, in those days the rickshaw wheels were made of heavy steel rings, which clattered noisily along the road. If a customer were in a hurry they would pay double the fare to have the rickshaw pulled by two men. The customer who hired Minosuke was a summer tourist and was in a hurry to get to the ocean.

  With a rope tied to the rickshaw slung over his shoulder, Minosuke heaved one, two, one, two, as he ran along the hot road beneath the late afternoon summer sun. As he wasn't used to this kind of work it was particularly grueling. But that didn't worry him in the slightest. He was burning with curiosity. That was because, as far back as he could remember, Minosuke had never set foot outside his own village, and he had no idea what kind of village or what kind of people there were on the other side of the mountain pass.

  The sun had begun to set and the people dotted here and there had started to take on a pale hue in the bluish twilight, when the rickshaw finally entered the town of Ono.

  In that town, Minosuke saw many things he'd never seen before. To begin, the sight of so many large stores all lined up in a row was a first for Minosuke. In his village there was just the one small shop which sold cheap sweets and straw sandals, silk spinning equipment, ointment and sea shells that contained eye lotion, and pretty much anything else that people in the village had a use for.

  But what really surprised Minosuke were the glass kerosene lamps that shone like flowers, lighting up every one of these big stores. When night came, most of the houses in Minosuke's village were without light. Inside those houses it was pitch black and people had to grope around blindly looking for things like water jugs, stone mortars, or just the main pole of the house. Families that were a little more extravagant made use of the paper lanterns carried by the brides when they came to get married. A paper lantern had a plate filled with oil that was surrounded by paper on all sides. A tiny flame about the size of a cherry blossom bud burnt on a wick that rose slightly above the plate, giving a warm mandarin-colored glow to the paper, and providing a weak light for the surrounding area. But no matter what kind of paper lantern was used, there was no way they could compare to the brightness of the lamps Minosuke saw in Ono.

  What's more, these lamps were made of glass, which was still quite rare in those days. In Minosuke's eyes, that alone was enough to make them superior to paper lanterns, which often became sooty or torn.

  These kerosene lamps made the entire town of Ono so bright Minosuke felt like he was walking inside the Palace of the Dragon God. He even felt reluctant to return to his own village. People, wherever they may come from, don't like returning home to a dark place from a bright one.

  Chapter 2

  Minosuke collected his pay of fifteen sen and took leave of the rickshaw, wandering through the seaside town with the sound of waves crashing relentlessly on the shore, like a drunk, peering into all of the fantastic stores, captivated by the beautiful bright lamps.

  In the draper's, the clerk had spread out some fabric dyed with a large camellia flower, and was showing it to a customer beneath the light of a lamp. In the grain merchant's, a shop boy was sitting under a lamp, sorting through adzuki beans, picking out the bad ones. In one house, a girl was playing a game of hajiki, and the shells laid out in front of her were shining a brilliant white under the light of her lamp. In another store someone was making a Buddhist rosary, guiding a thread through a hole in each of the tiny beads. These everyday scenes from people's lives, under the vivid blue light of the lamps, took on a kind of nostalgic beauty, as if they were from a world out of a storybook or a magic lantern.

  Minosuke had often heard people say how 'cultural enlightenment was making Japan a more advanced society,' but this was the first time he felt that he understood what 'cultural enlightenment' actually meant.

  Continuing along, he eventually came to a store where lots of lamps were on display inside. Surely this was a lamp store.

  Minosuke hesitated for a little while in front of the store, tightly gripping the 15 sen he held in his hand, but finally he made up his mind and walked confidently inside.

  "Please sell me one of those," he said, pointing at one of the lamps.

  (He didn't know the word 'lamp' yet.)

  The shopkeeper took down the large hanging lamp Minosuke had pointed to, but it couldn't be bought for 15 sen.

  "Give me a discount please," asked Minosuke.

  "Not for this one," replied the shopkeeper.

  "Please, give me the wholesale price."

  Minosuke knew that things had a retail price and a wholesale price, and that the wholesale price was cheaper. This was because he would often take straw sandals that he made himself and sell them to the general store. They would buy the straw sandals Minosuke made at the wholesale price of 1½ sen, and then they would sell them to a rickshaw driver at the retail price of 2½ sen.

  The store owner was surprised to hear this from a young boy, who he'd never seen or heard of before , and he took a long look at Minosuke's face. Then he said,

  "The wholesale price? I could sell it to a lamp seller for the wholesale price, but I can't sell it to an ordinary customer for that price."

  "So I could have it at the wholesale price if I was a lamp seller?"

  "Sure."

  "Then I'm a lamp seller. Please give it to me at the wholesale price."

  The shop owner, still holding the lamp, burst out laughing.

  "You're a lamp seller? Ha ha ha..."

  "Mister, it's true. From now on, I'm going to start selling lamps. Please, just sell me one today at the wholesale price. Next time I will buy a lot more."

  Although he laughed at first, the shopkeeper was impressed by Minosuke's sincerity, and after asking Minosuke a few questions about his situation, he said,

  "Alright then, if that's the case, I'll sell you this one at the wholesale price. To be honest, even at the wholesale price this is not 15 sen, but I'm impressed by your enthusiasm, so I'll give you a discount. But in return, make sure you sell lots of lamps. Go out and sell as many of my lamps as you can."

  And saying that, he handed over the lamp.

  After learning the basics of how to use it, Minosuke headed back to his village, lighting the road home with
his new lamp.

  There was no longer any need to be frightened by the pitch black mountain path that continued endlessly through the dense thickets and pine forests. He was carrying a lamp that was as bright as a flower.

  And there was another lamp burning inside his heart. That lamp burnt with his desire to bring light into the lives of the people in his own dark village, which had fallen behind in this era of cultural enlightenment, by selling them this wonderful modern convenience.

  Chapter 3

  But at first, Minosuke's new business didn't take off at all. This was because farmers tend to be suspicious of anything new.

  After thinking of different strategies, he decided to take the lamp to the one and only village store and lend it to them for free so they could try it out.

  The old lady at the store reluctantly agreed. She promptly hammered a nail into the ceiling and hung the lamp from it, lighting it for the first time that night.

  Five days later when Minosuke took some more sandals to sell at the store, the old lady was grinning as she told him what a convenient and bright thing it was, that customers could now come into the store at night and she didn't have to worry about mistaking their change, and that she was very pleased with it and could she please have one. She then told Minosuke that because the villagers had seen the benefits of a lamp, there were already three people who had put in orders. Minosuke felt like he was on cloud nine.

  After taking payment for the lamp and the sandals, he headed straight for Ono, running most of the way. After he explained the situation to the owner of the lamp store, the owner lent him the amount that he was short, and he bought three lamps so that he could take them back and sell them to those people who had put in orders.

  After that Minosuke's business began to prosper.

  At first he would only go to Ono after he had received an order, but when he had built up enough savings he began purchasing in bulk, whether he had orders or not.

  And he was soon able to quit running errands and babysitting and concentrate only on selling lamps. On the back of a cart, he attached a frame like the ones used for drying clothes, and from it he hung as many lamps and lamp globes as he could fit. The glass lamps made a soft tinkling sound as he traveled around selling them from village to village.

  Although Minosuke was able to profit from his business, there was more to it than that, he really enjoyed selling lamps. The lamps sold by Minosuke were gradually lighting up the houses that had previously been so dark. It was as if he was lighting the flame of cultural enlightenment in each of these dark houses, one at a time.

  Minosuke grew into a young man. Until now he had never lived in a house of his own, but had instead been allowed to stay in an old rundown shed at the back of the ward mayor's. Having now saved a little money, he was able to build a house of his own. Soon after, he met a woman who took an interest in him, and they got married.

  One day, as he was preaching the benefits of a lamp, he said, "...and with a lamp, you'll be able to read a newspaper while you are sitting on the floor," which was something the ward mayor had told him, but the customer replied, "That's hard to believe." Minosuke hated the idea of being thought a liar, so he decided he would see for himself. He borrowed a newspaper from the mayor and spread it out beneath the light of a lamp.

  The mayor had been telling the truth. Every one of the tiny characters of the newspaper could be clearly made out under the light of the lamp. "I haven't been lying to anyone," said Minosuke to himself. But even though he could clearly see each character, they didn't mean anything to him - because he couldn't read.

  "Even if lamps let us see clearly in the dark, it's not real cultural enlightenment if we can't read."

  With this as his motivation, from that day on, Minosuke went every evening to the ward mayor's to learn how to read.

  He was so dedicated to his studies that after only a year, he could read as well as anyone else in the village that had graduated elementary school.

  After that he learnt to read books.

  By now he was in the prime of his manhood, and his wife had given birth to two children. Every now and then he would ask himself, How did I manage to get this far all on my own? and then he'd think, I've still got a way to go before I'm fully established though. Such thoughts gave him a warm sense of self satisfaction.

  One day he was walking to Ono to stock up on lamp wicks, when, as he approached the town, he came across a group of workers who had dug a hole by the side of the road, and were placing a big thick pole in it. At the top of the pole there were two horizontal pieces of timber that looked like wooden arms, and on top of these arms were white ceramic knobs that looked like little fat men. As he was wondering to himself why they would be placing such strange objects along the side of the road, he soon came across another tall pole, a sparrow singing away on its wooden shoulders.

  These strange looking poles had been placed in the ground every fifty meters or so.

  Minosuke came across an old man drying noodles in the sun, so he asked him what these poles were for. He told Minosuke,

  "They are connecting up this thing called electricity. Once they do that, we won't need lamps anymore."

  Minosuke didn't understand. That's because he knew nothing at all about electricity. If it's supposed to replace lamps, then this electricity thing must be some kind of light. But if it's a type of light then they should be lighting up the inside of people's houses. What's the point of putting all of these great big poles along the road, he wondered.

  Chapter 4

  About a month later he was again visiting Ono, when he saw that those big poles that they had been putting in along the roadside, now had several black wires running over the top. Each black wire did a loop around the head of one of the little fat men sitting on the pole's wooden arms, and then continued on to the next pole, where it did another loop and continued on to the next, and so on, and so on.

  After following it for a while, he noticed that two sets of black wires would occasionally separate from the head of the little fat men, and join up with the side of a house.

  "What? I thought electricity was supposed to be some kind of light. It's just a cable. Well, it's a nice place for the sparrows and the swallows to take a rest," said Minosuke, laughing to himself. But on entering the amazake teahouse where he was a regular customer, he saw that they had taken down the large lamp that used to hang above the main dining table in the center of the room, and placed it against the wall. In its place, hanging from the ceiling by a thick cable, was a weird lamp that looked like a miniature version of the old one, but without a hole for pouring in kerosene.

  "What's this weird thing you've got hanging here? Was there something wrong with the other one?" asked Minosuke.

  The owner of the teahouse replied,

  "Ah, that's the electricity they installed. Don't need to worry about setting fire to the place, it's much brighter, and you don't need matches. It's very, very convenient.

  "Huh! But look how ugly it is. It doesn't suit your store at all. This will lose you customers."

  The teahouse owner remembered he was talking to a lamp salesman so he didn't say anything more about the convenience of electric light.

  "You see that. Take a look at the ceiling there. Look at how black it is. That's taken years and years of lamp soot to get that color. And now that lamp's gone, just like that. Just because this new convenience called electricity comes along, it gets pulled down and tossed in a corner. That's no way to treat a good lamp."

  By taking the side of the lamp in this way, Minosuke refused to admit any of the benefits of electric light.

  But before long, evening came, and without anyone striking a single match, the teahouse suddenly became as bright as day. Minosuke was astonished. It was so bright he instinctively looked behind to see what happened.

  "Minosuke, this is electricity."

  He stood for a long time, staring at the electric light through gritted teeth, making a face as if he were
staring down the enemy. He stared so hard his eyeballs started to hurt.

  "I hate to be the one to tell you Minosuke, but lamps just don't compare. Poke your head outside and take a look up the road."

  He walked sulkily over, opened the paper sliding door and took a look outside. Electric lights were shining brightly in every house and every shop, the same as the teahouse. There was so much light it spilled out of the houses and poured into the street. It was almost blinding for someone like Minosuke, who was only used to the light of a kerosene lamp. Minosuke stood staring at the scene for a long time, his shoulders heaving out each breath with bitter resentment.

  A formidable adversary has emerged, thought Minosuke to himself. Up until now he had always sung the praises of cultural enlightenment, but he just couldn't understand that the electric light was a modern convenience more advanced than the lamp. Even a very smart person, when their livelihood is at stake, loses their ability to judge things correctly.

  From that day on, deep down, Minosuke was afraid of electric lighting coming to his own village. If electric lighting came to his village, then all the villagers would most likely take down their lamps and hang them against the wall, just as the owner of the teahouse did, or they might just stow them away in the attic. No one would need to buy lamps anymore.

  But he comforted himself by thinking about how much effort it had taken just to get lamps into the village; surely they'd be too afraid of electric lights to accept them without some kind of struggle.

  But when he heard the rumor not long after, that the next town council would be debating about whether to introduce electric lighting to the village, he felt as if he'd just received a smack over the head.

  The time has come to welcome thee, formidable enemy of mine.

  He could no longer just sit back and watch. He made his opinion known to everyone.

  "This thing called electricity uses great long wires that pass deep through the mountains, so you can be sure that those wires will lead all the foxes and raccoon dogs to your farms where they'll steal all of your rice and veggies."