「どうして……、どうして……」
先生は
「私の
先生の
私は私がどうしてここへ来たかを先生に
「
「いいえ、そんな
「そうですか。――そう、それはいうはずがありませんね、
先生はようやく
先生と私は
5
I entered to the left through a nursery that fronted the cemetery, traversing a lane with maples planted down both sides. From a tea house at the end of the lane, a man resembling Sensei emerged. I moved nearer, close enough to see the sun reflect off the rims of his glasses. Without further hesitation, I called out, "Sensei," in a loud voice. Sensei stopped in his tracks and turned my way.
"How did ... ? How did ... ?"
Sensei repeated these words twice over. Their tone, as he repeated them, rung heavy in the midday calm. I found myself at a loss for an answer.
"Did you follow me here? How did ...?" Sensei's demeanor was perfectly relaxed, and his voice was perfectly restrained. However, a shadow of some sort seemed to pass over his countenance.
I explained to him how I'd come to be there.
"Did my wife tell you whose grave I came to visit?"
"No, that she didn't say."
"I see. -- I expect she wouldn't, having only just met you. There's no reason she should."
Sensei seemed finally assured. The meaning of this all eluded me.
On our way back out to the boulevard, Sensei and I passed among the grave sites. There were graves marked 'Isabella so-and-so' and 'Login, Servant of the Lord.' Nearby stood a grave post inscribed with 'All Living Creatures are Endowed with the Essence of Buddha.' Another grave read 'Minister Plenipotentiary so-and-so.' I stopped in front of a small post engraved with 'An · Toku · Retsu' and asked Sensei about the reading of the characters. "They intended, I suppose, that we read those as André," he replied with a wry smile.