Nori's blog----Novels, Poems, Essays, from Japan

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The monk was walking on the path to the graveyard
alone, as usual, to go to the culprit's dungeon.
The path was a way that goes through graves of the
graveyard. The path, then, becomes a descending
slope. Then the path goes through plum trees. And
finally, the path ends in the graveyard in the
small valley. The monk has come and gone in the
past 7 years as his daily schedule. So, the monk
was walking on the path to the dungeon in the
morning too, while the wind was blowing terribl-
ly above him.
The sky was clear. Above him was the blue sky.
But the wind was like a storm. On the ground,
shadows of trees were moving a lot, playing with
light, the shadows were waiting for the monk to
come. The monk suddenly stopped his walk. There
was a white flower leaf of cherry. The monk
noticed that the flower leaf was not the only
one. Although they were few, there were some
white flower leafs of cherry on the path he
was walking. The flower leafs were there as if
they were scattered by somebody. The monk saw
those white flower leafs chenge their places,
or stay in same places without move, on the
ground, when it blew.
Seeing those white flower leafs, the monk
realized cherry began to bloom somewhere.
There is an old cherry tree near the bell of
this Buddhism temple, for example. But the
cherry tree has not begun to bloom yet this
year, as it blooms late every year. Then,
where did these flower leafs come from? --
The monk wondered. These flower leafs, the
monk thought, must have been brought here
by the wind from somewhere afar. They seemed
to have come from the near hill, which is fa-
mous for cherry trees, or they may have been
brought here from the cherry trees planted
along the moat of the castle. The monk could
only imagine where they are from. But the
monk noticed their arrival is a little early
this year. And the monk wondered whether the
culprit in the dungeon has noticed cherry
(sakura) began to bloom in the outside world.
Thus, every spring, the monk wondered where
the flower leafs of sakura come from. But the
answer was a secret which only cherry flowers
know.

(To be continued)

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The wind was blowing. The culprit realized
spring has come in the sound of wind, which
could be heard from the previous night. The
sound of wind reminded him of the voice of
the wind-god in the sky.
The air was cold. Chill of winter was sti-
ll felt in the morning and night, but the
sound of wind made the culprit notice spri-
ng has come outside of his dungeon.
And, when the outside of the dungeon be-
gan to be bright in the morning, the culprit
gazed the black soil of the ground in front
of his dungeon. What he looked for was very
the notice of spring.
The culprit found it. And he was convinced
spring has come. One year has passed again
in the world outside his dengeon.

What the culprit looked for carefully on
the soil and then found was white flower
leafs of cherry blossoms. Some white flower
leafs the wind has brought there are dancing
on the soil in front of the dungeon the
culprit is imprisoned, in the wind. The cul-
prit has found them in the morning light this
year too. The dungeon is located in the out-
skirts of the graveyard of a temple, near
which no cherry tree(sakura) exists. But the
wind brings flower leafs of cherry from afar
every spring. And the wind has brought sakura
to his dungeon this year again. It was because
the dungeon is located in a little valley and
the flower leafs of sakura, which were blown
by wind afar, are brought there by wind to
the dungeon, which was a terminal of wind to
remain there for a long time. Thus, the wind
brings and leaves cherry flowers in front of
the culprit's dungeon every year.

The culprit has waited for the sound of wind
in his dungeon every year. He listened the sound
of wind with concentration. And he waited for
the wind, which he listened, brings the flower
leafs in front of his dungeon in his prison
with nostalgia.

(To be continued)

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