「
私は
私のすべてを聞いた奥さんは、はたして
15
Regarding all facets of Okusan's behavior as a whole, I finally concluded that within her household I was duly trusted. I even had reason to believe that I'd been deemed trustworthy from our initial encounter. To one like me, who harbored a general mistrust in his bosom, this revelation was quite surprising. I decided that women, in comparison to men, must be that much more intuitive. At the same time, I wondered if that wasn't how men managed to deceive them. In retrospect, it's funny that I could regard Okusan so while blindly trusting my own intuition with respect to her daughter. While pledging in my heart to trust no one, I trusted Okusan's daughter absolutely, all the while wondering at Okusan's trust in me.
I didn't talk much of home. I said nothing at all of what had transpired there. It pained me even to think of it. As much as I could, I let them talk while I listened. However, I couldn't keep this up. They wanted to know about my home and what it was like. I finally told them all. That I was never going back. That there was nothing there for me now, nothing save the graves of my parents. When I told them all this, Okusan was visibly moved. Her daughter wept. I decided I'd done right in divulging my past. I was glad to have done so.
After hearing my story, Okusan's expression all but told me that I'd validated her intuition. From that point on, she treated me no differently than she would her own younger kinfolk. I took no offense at this, and in fact it rather pleased me. The mistrust in my heart, however, was before long rekindled.