A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro Read Free Book Online

have to do that, I didn’t need to leave Tokyo at all."
    I gave a bow. Sachiko looked at me for a moment, then turned and gazed out through the open partitions, out into the darkness.
    “But you’ve left your uncle now,” I said. “And now you’re about to leave Japan.”
    Sachiko glared at me angrily. “Why do you speak to me like this, Etsuko? Why is it you can’t wish me well? Is it simply that you’re envious?”
    “But I do wish you well. And I assure you I …”
    “Mariko will be fine in America, why won’t you believe that? It’s a better place for a child to grow up. And she’ll have far more opportunities there, life’s much better for a woman in America.”
    “I assure you I’m happy for you. As for myself, I couldn’t be happier with things as they are. Jiro’s work is going so well, and now the child arriving just when we wanted it."
    “She could become a business girl, a film actress even. America’s like that, Etsuko, so many things are possible. Frank says I could become a business woman too. Such things are possible out there."
    “I’m sure they are. It’s just that personally, I’m very happy with my life where l am.”
    Sachiko gazed at the two small kittens, clawing at the tatami beside her. For several moments we were silent.
    “I must be getting back,” I said, eventually. “They’ll be getting worried about me.” I rose to my feet, but Sachiko did not take her eyes off the kittens. “When is it you leave?” I asked.
    “Within the next few days. Frank will come and get us in his car. We should be on a ship by the end of the week.”
    “I take it then you won’t be helping Mrs. Fujiwara much longer.”
    Sachiko looked up at me with a short incredulous laugh. “Etsuko, I’m about to go to America. There’s no need for me to work any more in a noodle shop.”
    “I see.”
    “In fact, Etsuko, perhaps you’d care to tell Mrs. Fujiwara what’s happened to me. I don’t expect to be seeing her again.”
    “Won’t you tell her yourself?”
    She sighed impatiently. “Etsuko, Can’t you appreciate how loathsome it’s been for someone such as myself to work each day in a noodle shop? But I didn’t complain and I did what was required of me. But now it’s over, I’ve no great wish to see that place again.” A kitten had been clawing at the sleeve of Sachiko’s kimono. She gave it a sharp slap with the back of her hand and the little creature went scurrying back across the tatami. “So please give my regards to Mrs. Fujiwara,” she said. “And my best wishes for her trade.”
    “I’ll do that. Now please excuse me, I must go.”
    This time, Sachiko got to her feet and accompanied me to the entryway.
    “I’ll come and say goodbye before we leave,” she said, as I was putting on my sandals.
    At first it had seemed a perfectly innocent dream; I had merely dreamt of something I had seen the previous day—the little girl we had watched playing in the park. And then the dream came back the following night. Indeed, over the past few months, it has returned to me several times.
    Niki and I had watched the girl playing on the swings the afternoon we had walked into the village. It was the third day of Niki’s visit and the rain had eased to a drizzle. I had not been out of the house for several days and enjoyed the feel of the air as we stepped into the winding lane outside.
    Niki tended to walk rather fast, her narrow leather boots creaking with each stride. Although I found it no trouble keeping up with her, I would have preferred a more leisurely pace. Niki, one supposes, has yet to learn the pleasures of walking for its own sake. Neither does she seem sensitive to the feel of the countryside despite having grown up here. I said as much to her as we walked, and she retorted that this was not the real countryside, just a residential version to cater for the wealthy people who lived here. I dare say she is right; I have never ventured north to the agricultural