An Artist of the Floating World Read Online Free PDF Page B

carefully, but saying nothing. I turned the sketchpad to a new sheet and placed it on the floor in front of him. "Let me see you do something first, Ichiro. Then Oji will see if he can help to make it better at all. What do you want to draw?" My grandson had become very quiet. He looked down at the blank sheet thoughtfully, but made no move to start drawing. "Why don't you try and draw something you saw yesterday?" I suggested. "Something you saw when you first arrived in the city." Ichiro went on looking at the sketchpad. Then he looked up and asked: "Was Oji a famous artist once?" "A famous artist?" I gave a laugh. "I suppose you might say that. Is that what your mother says?" "Father says you used to be a famous artist. But you had to finish." "I"ve retired, Ichiro. Everyone retires when they get to a certain age. It's only right, they deserve a rest." "Father says you had to finish. Because Japan lost the war." I gave another laugh, then reached forward and took the sketchpad. I turned back the leaves, looking through my grandson's sketches of trams, and held one up at arm's length for a better view. "You reach a certain age, Ichiro, and you want a rest from things. Your father too will stop working when he gets to my age. And one day, you'll be my age and you'll want a rest too. Now"--I returned to the blank sheet and placed the pad before him again--"what will you draw for me, Ichiro?" "Did Oji do the picture in the dining room?" "No, that's by an artist called Urayama. Why, do you like it?" "Did Oji paint the one in the corridor?" "That's by another fine artist, an old friend of Oji's." "Where are Oji's pictures then?" "They"re tidied away for the moment. Now, Ichiro, let's get back to important things. What will you draw for me? What do you remember from yesterday? What's the matter, Ichiro? Suddenly so quiet." "I want to see Oji's pictures." "I"m sure a bright boy like you can remember all sorts of things. What about the film poster you saw? The one with the prehistoric monster. I"m sure someone like you could do it very well. Even better than the real poster perhaps." Ichiro seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he rolled over on to his front, and with his face close to the paper, began to draw. Using a dark brown crayon, he drew on the lower part of the sheet a row of boxes--which soon became a skyline of city buildings. And then there emerged, looming above the city, a huge lizard-like creature up on its hind legs. At this point my grandson exchanged his brown crayon for a red one and began to make bright streaks all around the lizard. "What is this, Ichiro? Fire?" Ichiro continued with his red streaks, not answering. "Why is there fire, Ichiro? Is it to do with the monster appearing?" "Electric cables," Ichiro said, with an impatient sigh. "Electric cables? Now that's interesting. I wonder why electric cables cause fire. Do you know?" Ichiro gave another sigh and continued to draw. He picked up his dark crayon again and began to draw at the foot of the sheet panic-stricken people fleeing in all directions. "You"re doing this very well, Ichiro," I remarked. "Perhaps as a reward, Oji might take you to see the movie tomorrow. Would you like that?" My grandson paused and looked up. "it might be too scary for Oji," he said. "I doubt that," I said, with a laugh. "But it may well frighten your mother and your aunt." At this, Ichiro burst into loud laughter. He rolled over on to his back and laughed some more. "Mother and Aunt Noriko will be really scared!" he shouted at the ceiling. "But we men will enjoy it, won't we, Ichiro? We'll go tomorrow. Would you like that? We'll take the women with us and watch them get frightened." Ichiro continued to laugh loudly. "Aunt Noriko will get scared straightaway!" "She probably will," I said, laughing again myself. "Very well, we'll all go tomorrow. Now, Ichiro, you"d better go on with your picture." "Aunt Noriko will get scared! She'll want to leave!" "Now, Ichiro, let's carry