

### Night on the Milky Way Railway

by Kenji Miyazawa

Published by Little J Books at Smashwords

Copyright Paul Quirk 2013

Translated from - _Gingatetsudo-no-Yoru_ by Kenji Miyazawa

Bonus story translated from – _Gongitsune_ by Nankichi Niimi

Cover image: _Starry Night over the Rhone_ by Vincent van Gogh

Discover other titles by Kenji Miyazawa and Nankichi Niimi published by Little J Books at <http://www.littlejbooks.com/>

Please note, copyright on the original works have expired, however, Little J Books holds all copyrights for these translations. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. The moral right of the translator has been asserted.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. However, if you would like to use any of the stories that make up this ebook for business or educational purposes, please contact Paul at the email address below. We look forward to hearing from you.

This book is published by Little J Books

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Postal mail: 394-2 Kubohara, Yamaoka-cho, Ena-shi, Gifu-ken, Japan, Postcode 509-7601

Note on this translation

The original manuscript for this story contained multiple revisions, but a small number of sentences remained incomplete at the time of its discovery (after the death of the author).

In this translation, small sections of previous versions were used to supplement the missing sections. All effort was made to create a translation faithful to the author's vision. No material has been used in this translation that wasn't written by the author, and the names of the characters have not been changed.

Dedication

This series is dedicated to my wife Yuuki, who has provided me with the support and encouragement to make this project a reality.
Contents

About the Author

No-spoiler Introduction

Milky Way definition (reference)

Constellation Maps & Artwork (reference)

Night on the Milky Way Railway

Glossary

The Cello Voice

The Story of the Scorpion

Star Safari Song (lyrics)

The Celestial River (lyrics)

Bonus story – Gon the Fox

About Little J Books

Other Titles by Little J Books
About Kenji Miyazawa

Born in 1896, Kenji was brought up as the eldest child in a wealthy household in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. From a very young age he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, with interests spanning geology, astronomy, through all types of flora and fauna, cinema, music, painting and literature. A devout Buddhist, Kenji turned his back on the family pawn broking and second-hand kimono business, becoming a teacher at the local agricultural high school, and writing poems and fairytales to help spread a Buddhist message of universal peace.

Although now an internationally renowned author, at the time of his death at the age of 37, he was relatively unknown, having only received payment for a single short story, and apart from two volumes of short stories and poems that he self-published in 1924, the majority of his work was still unpublished. However, before his death, his work attracted the attention of several successful artists and poets, who, along with his brother Seiroku, collaborated on the publication of the majority of his works over a number of years. He is now one of Japan's best known poets and authors of the modern era.

The Kenji Festival, where local children and adults act, sing and read the works of Kenji, is held annually in Kenji's hometown of Hanamaki, Iwate, each year on the anniversary of his death, September 21.
A 'No-Spoiler' Introduction

This translation includes a simple glossary (just click on the featured word to jump to the explanation) to help you navigate your way through the galaxy, which can also be accessed at the back of the book after you have finished reading the story. I have also added the translation of the 'Cello Voice' sections that Kenji cut from the final version. The Cello Voice sections provide an interesting insight into the author's motivation for writing the story.

Although I did compile a detailed glossary, including all of the, gemstones, trees, plants and flowers mentioned in the story (with pictures), it was too big to be included in this book, and has been added to the Little J Books website. Please take a look if you are interested in learning more about this story.

Kenji Miyazawa was the creator of a dreamland called Ihatov (sometimes spelt Ihatovo), a place where he set all of his short stories. It is a place where all kinds of things are possible. There are animals that talk, there are children that can fly and there are horse carriages made of mushrooms. At first, this story seems quite different to those, and when you notice that the main character's name is Giovanni, you may start thinking: Surely this story is set in Italy, isn't it? But this story is also set in Ihatov, so please do not be distracted by the characters' names.

I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed translating it and I look forward to seeing you sometime at the Kenji Festival held every year in Hanamaki, Iwate on September 21.

Translator and Founder of Little J Books

Paul Quirk
Milky Way - The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The Milky Way contains 100–400 billion stars and may contain at least as many planets as well. Our Solar System is located about 27,000 light-years away from the center of the Milky Way, which is thought to contain a supermassive black hole. The Milky Way is just one of many galaxies; Andromeda and the Large Magellanic Cloud examples of two others.

Constellation maps and artwork

Depiction of the northern sky constellations by Albrecht Dürer (1515)  
Map of the constellations of the northern sky

(Courtesy Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Depiction of southern sky constellations by Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr (1742)

Map of the constellations of the southern sky

(Courtesy Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Night on the Milky Way Railway

Chapter 1 - Afternoon Class

"So class, this white cloudy area that some people call a river, and others the remains of spilt milk; does anyone know what it really is?" asked the teacher, pointing to a white cloudy region stretching all the way down the constellation chart hanging in front of the blackboard.

Campanella raised his hand. Four or five others raised their hands after him. Giovanni raised his hand too, but he quickly pulled it down again. He was pretty sure he'd read in a magazine a while ago that they were all stars, but these days Giovanni was always sleepy during class, and he didn't have any books or time to read them, and he felt as if he didn't really know anything.

But the teacher quickly spotted him.

"OK, Giovanni? You know what it is, don't you?"

Giovanni got straight to his feet, but as soon as he was standing it was clear he wouldn't be able to answer. Zanelli, sitting directly in front, turned around and snickered. Giovanni became flustered and his face turned red. The teacher asked him again:

"If we look closely at the Milky Way through a large telescope, what is it that we mostly see?"

Giovanni was now even more certain that they were stars, but still he couldn't answer.

The teacher hesitated for several moments unsure what to do, but then shifted his gaze toward Campanella.

"Ok then, Campanella?"

But then Campanella, who only moments ago had put his hand up so confidently, could now only get slowly to his feet, and of course he couldn't answer either.

For some moments, the teacher gave a puzzled look at Campanella, but then, turning to point at the constellation chart, he said:

"Right then. If you look at this white cloudy area through a good quality large telescope, you will be able to see lots and lots of tiny stars. Isn't that right Giovanni?"

Giovanni nodded, his face turning red once more. But now his eyes had filled with tears.

They are stars, I knew they were, and Campanella must have known they were too, because it was in that magazine that Campanella's dad, the professor, gave us to read when I was at his house. And then, after we finished reading the magazine, Campanella went and got that big book from his dad's study and opened it up to the section on the Milky Way, and we spent ages and ages looking at that beautiful photo of all those white spots on the shiny black page. Campanella couldn't have forgotten that, so the only reason he didn't answer right away was because he knows I've been working really long hours, before and after school. And even when I'm at school I'm too tired to play with the others, and I hardly even speak to Campanella anymore. He must have felt sorry for me and didn't answer on purpose.

Giovanni was overcome with a feeling of pity; for himself and for Campanella.

The teacher continued.

"So if you think of the Milky Way as a real river, then each one of those tiny stars corresponds to the sand or the pebbles on the bottom of that river. But if you think of it as a large stream of milk, then it is even more like the Milky Way. In that case, each one of those stars corresponds to a tiny globule of oil floating in the milk.

"So you might ask, what corresponds to the water in that river? Well that is something known as a vacuum, which allows light to pass at a certain speed, and in which our sun and earth are also floating in right now. Which means that we are also living in the water of the Celestial River. So when we look out from inside the water of this Celestial River - just as water looks bluer the deeper it gets - when we look at the deepest and farthest parts of the Milky Way, all the stars appear to be concentrated in the one place, which gives it the appearance of a big white cloud. Let's take a look at this scale model here."

The teacher pointed to a large biconvex lens filled with hundreds of shiny grains of sand.

"The shape of the Milky Way is just like this. Now, think of every one of these specks as stars that shine all on their own, just as our Sun does. The Sun would be almost in the middle, here, so the earth would be right next to it, here. Now imagine it's the middle of the night and you are standing in the center of this lens, looking all around you. This part of the lens is quite narrow, so you'd only see a few specks, or stars. But here, and here, the glass is very thick, so you would be able to see lots and lots of specks, or stars, and at the farthest reaches it would appear all white and cloudy. This is today's theory of the Milky Way.

"So then you are probably wondering how big this lens is, and all about the different stars inside it, but we are out of time today so we'll discuss that the next time we have science. Of course tonight is the star festival, so make sure you all go outside and take a good look up at the sky.

"That's all for today. Pack up your textbooks and notebooks please."

The classroom was filled with the clatter of desk lids opening and closing and books being stacked on top of one another, but soon the children stood up straight, thanked the teacher with a bow, and headed outside.

Chapter 2 - The Printing House

As Giovanni was walking out the school gate, he saw there were a group of seven or eight boys from his class that were hanging back, standing by the cherry blossom tree in the corner of the school yard, with Campanella in the middle. They must have been talking about going to get some of the raven gourds for the star festival that were sent down the river with candles inside, and which gave off a blue glow as they floated downstream.

But Giovanni continued walking hurriedly out the school gate, swinging his arms high in front of him. All of the houses in the street had put out their decorations for tonight's star festival; hanging out yew leaf balls and covering the cypress trees in lights.

After turning down the last of three streets, he came up to a large printing house. He walked inside and nodded a greeting to a man in a loose-fitting white shirt sitting at the accounts desk, took off his shoes and pushed open the large door at the end of the corridor. Inside, all of the lights were on, even though it was still bright outside, and there were a dozen or more printing presses going clunk - clunk, as they spun noisily around; and the people inside, some with handkerchiefs tied around their head, some wearing sun visors; were reading and counting as if they were singing some kind of song.

Giovanni walked straight up to a man sitting at a very tall desk, the third from the entrance, and nodded a greeting. The man took a quick look up on his bookshelf and then handed Giovanni a scrap of paper, and said:

"Just get these ones for me today."

Giovanni then pulled a small flat box from under the man's desk and took it over to where the type for the printing press was leaning against the wall, all brightly lit up with electric lamps. Squatting down in a corner with a pair of tweezers, he began picking out the tiny lead letters the size of bird seeds, one at a time.

A man in a blue apron passed behind him, and said,

"Afternoon bug eyes!" after which four or five others standing nearby, smiled coldly to themselves without taking their eyes from their work.

Giovanni had to wipe at his eyes again and again as he continued picking out the type.

Not long after the clock had struck six, Giovanni checked the letters in his box against those written on his scrap of paper one last time, and then took them back to the man sitting at the desk. The man silently took the box, and then gave Giovanni a nod of approval.

Giovanni bowed his thanks and then went back out through the door and up to the man sitting at the accounts desk. That man then handed Giovanni a small silver coin, again, without saying a word. The color rushed back into Giovanni's face, and, after bowing enthusiastically to the pay clerk, he grabbed his bag from beneath the counter and raced out through the entrance. Whistling happily at the top of his voice, he stopped by the bakery and bought a loaf of bread and a bag of sugar cubes, before taking off again as fast as he could run.

Chapter 3 - Home

The house that Giovanni raced inside was a small building down one of the back streets. There were three doors lined up in a row, with an old box containing purple kale and ornamental asparagus plants by the doorway on the left. Two small windows were covered with a shade.

"Ma, I'm home. Do you feel better today?" he asked as he took off his shoes.

"Oh Giovanni, you must be worn out. It's been quite cool today. I feel a lot better."

Giovanni's mother was lying with a white cloth tied around her head in the room next to the entrance. Giovanni walked inside and opened the window.

"I got you some sugar cubes today. I thought you might like some in your milk."

"Thank you, but you go ahead and eat first. I don't feel like anything just yet."

"Ma, when did sis' get back?"

"She came back about three. She did all the housework for me."

"Didn't your milk get delivered today?"

"I don't think it did."

"I'll go fetch it."

"Yes, but I don't feel like anything just yet. You go ahead and eat first. Your sister made you something with the tomatoes. She left it over there for you."

"Ok then."

Giovanni took the plate of tomatoes from over by the window and began eating them noisily together with the bread.

"Hey ma, I think pa will be home soon."

"Yes, I think so too. But what makes you think that?"

"Because in this morning's newspaper it said that this year there was a really good catch up north."

"Ah yes, but perhaps your father is not on a fishing boat."

"I'm sure he is. Pa would never do anything bad that he'd have to go to prison for, like what people say about him poaching otters and seals and stuff. You know how last summer pa brought back that huge crab carapace and the reindeer antlers, and gave them to the school; now they are on display in the science room and the teachers all say how unusual they are, and take turns bringing them in to show the six graders during class."

"Your father said that next time he would bring you back an otter fur coat."

"The other kids say that to me all the time. They always tease me about it."

"Do they say bad things about your father?"

"Campanella never would though. Whenever the others talk like that, Campanella always has a sad look on his face."

"You know his father and your father have been friends since they were at school, just like the two of you."

"I know. Pa used to take me over to Campanella's house. That was fun then. I used to stop in at Campanella's on the way home from school all the time. They have a train powered by an alcohol lamp. There are seven rail sections that are all connected into a big circle, and it has power lines and traffic signals, and the traffic signals only go green when the train passes. Once when it ran out of alcohol we used gasoline, but afterwards the canister was all covered in black soot."

"Was it really?"

"I still go there every day when I deliver the paper, but it's always so quiet inside."

"That's because it's so early."

"They have a dog named Sour. It's got a tail like a broom. Whenever I go there it follows me, sniffing the whole time. It follows me all the way to the next street; sometimes even further. Tonight, everyone's going to be sending the raven gourds down the river. I bet Sour goes there too."

"Oh that's right, the star festival is tonight."

"Yeah, I'll have a look when I go get the milk."

"Yes, you should go. But don't go out on the river."

"No, I'll just watch from the bank. I'll only be an hour."

"You can take longer than that. If you are with Campanella then I'm sure there'll be nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I'll be with him, for sure. Mum, do you want me to shut the window before I go?"

"Yes, could you? It's cool enough inside now."

Giovanni stood up and closed the window, tidied up the plate and the bread bag, and then hurriedly put on his shoes.

"OK ma, I'll be back in an hour and a half," he said, as he hurried out the door into the night.

Chapter 4 - Night of the Centaur Festival

Giovanni had a lonely look on his face, as if he were whistling, as he walked down the hill into town, the black silhouettes of the cypress trees lining both sides of the road.

A magnificent pale-blue light shone from a large street lamp standing at the bottom of the hill. As he got closer and closer to the light, the long wispy shadow that had been trailing behind him like a ghost, grew darker and became more distinct. Now it began to lift its legs and swing its arms, and now it moved around beside him and started walking side by side.

_Look at me;_ _I'm a great steam engine. Look out; I'm speeding down the hill! Now I'm passing the lamp post. Look at that; my shadow's like a compass. It's moved all the way round and now it's in front._

Giovanni was taking extra-long strides as he walked beneath the street lamp, when all of a sudden his classmate Zanelli came out from a dark laneway on the other side of the lamp post wearing a new shirt with a sharply pressed collar, and passed right in front of him.

"Zanelli, are you going to float the raven gourd lanterns?" asked Giovanni, but before he could even finish, Zanelli cried out at the top of his voice:

"Giovanni, your dad's bringing you an otter fur coat!"

Giovanni's heart froze and his ears began to ring.

"What?! Hey, Zanelli!" he shouted back, but Zanelli had already gone inside the house across the road with the ornamental cypress planted out front.

"Why does Zanelli have to say stuff like that when I didn't do anything to him? He runs like a rat. The only reason he says stuff like that when I didn't do anything to him is because he's stupid."

Giovanni's mind was racing as he passed through the beautiful streets filled with all kinds of different lanterns, and trees covered in decorations. A bright neon lamp lit up the front window of the watchmakers. Inside there was an owl that rolled its eyes of red stone for each second that passed, and on top of a thick glass disc the color of the ocean, were all kinds of jewels, slowly turning as if they were stars, while a bronze Centaur gradually approached from the other side. In the middle of the glass disc, was a black planisphere.

Giovanni stopped and stared at the chart printed on the planisphere, becoming completely lost in thought.

Although it was much smaller than the chart he had seen at school that afternoon, this one had an outer plate covering the star chart; and if you turned the disc to a certain date and time, the oval-shaped hole in the center of the outer plate would only reveal the stars that could be seen in the sky at that time. This chart also had a white cloudy ribbon stretching from the top all the way down to the bottom, where the Milky Way appeared all smoky. The bottom looked as if steam was rising up after a small explosion. Behind it was a small telescope mounted on a tripod, bathed in yellow light; and hanging on the back wall was a large chart of the constellations, all depicted as strange beasts and snakes and fish and bottles and all kinds of things. For several minutes Giovanni stood there daydreaming about whether the sky really was filled with scorpions and warriors, and how much he'd love to walk forever and ever through that sky.

Suddenly he remembered he still had to get the milk for his mother and he started off again. He walked briskly through the town, his chest pumped out, his arms swinging high in front, even though it made his worn-out coat pull tight against his shoulders.

The crystal-clear air seemed to flow down the streets and through the stores like water, and the street lights were wrapped in the lush green branches of fir and oak trees. Many of the trees, such as the six sycamore trees in front of the power company, had their branches covered by dozens and dozens of small light bulbs, and the entire scene looked as if it were from the city of mermaids.

Wearing neatly pressed clothes, the children darted back and forth whistling the Star Safari song and shouting "Centaur! Send down your dew!" as they laughed and carried on, burning their sparklers of blue magnesium. But Giovanni's mind was in a different place to all the fun going on around him, and he walked hurriedly toward the dairy with his head hung low.

Before long he came to a place by the edge of town where dozens upon dozens of poplar trees were floating high in the night sky. Walking through the dark entrance to the dairy, he stood in front of the dimly lit kitchen that smelled like cows, took off his cap, and called out, "Good evening!" but no sound came from inside the house and there was no sign of anyone.

"Good evening! Excuse me!" cried Giovanni, straightening up to his full height. After several moments had passed, an old lady appeared, moving gingerly as if she were in some kind of pain. Half mumbling, she asked Giovanni what he wanted.

"Well yes, our milk wasn't delivered today, so I've come to pick it up," said Giovanni, in a big strong voice.

"Nobody's here now. I can't tell you anything. Come back tomorrow," she said, rubbing her red eyes as she looked down at Giovanni.

"Yes, but Mother is sick, so I need to get her milk for her tonight."

"Then come back in a little while," said the old lady and turned to go back into the house.

"I see. OK then, thank you," replied Giovanni bowing his head slightly, before turning and heading back out.

Walking through the town again, he was about to turn the corner when he caught sight of a group of six or seven school kids, black shadows and white shirts all jumbled together, whistling and laughing as they walked in front of the general store on the way to the footbridge, each one with a raven gourd lantern in their hand. Their laughter and whistling sounded familiar. They were his classmates. His heart skipped a beat and he thought about turning back, but then changed his mind, and instead strode confidently up towards them.

"Are you going to the river?" he tried to say, but the words got caught in his throat.

"Giovanni, your dad's bringing you an otter fur coat!" cried out Zanelli, just like before.

"Giovanni, your dad's bringing you an otter fur coat!" parroted the others straight after.

Giovanni's face went red and he no longer knew if he was walking or what he was doing, but as he tried to hurry past the group, he suddenly noticed Campanella in amongst them. Campanella was smiling quietly with a look of pity on his face as he watched Giovanni, half expecting him to lose his temper.

Giovanni did his best to avoid Campanella's eyes so that he could get away from them, and as soon as he'd made it passed the tall silhouette of Campanella, the boys resumed their whistling once more. As he was about to turn the next corner, Giovanni took a quick look behind and saw Zanelli also looking back over his shoulder at Giovanni. Just then Campanella began whistling at the top of his voice, and then walked off in the opposite direction towards the shadowy figure of the footbridge.

Overcome by a terrible feeling of loneliness, Giovanni sped off as fast as he could run. Nearby, some small children who were laughing and screaming as they played at hopping on one leg with their hands over their ears, squealed with delight when they saw Giovanni take off so fast. Giovanni raced toward the bottom of a hill that was surrounded in darkness.

Chapter 5 - Weather Wheel Monument

At the rear of the dairy farm was a gentle-sloping hill. Its dark, flat peak appeared lower than normal, and looked to join up with the Great Bear of the north that sat directly above it.

Giovanni clambered up a narrow path through a small woodland, the ground covered in freshly formed dew. A single ray of white starlight lit up the path that weaved between wild grass hidden in darkness, and a thicket, where the shadows took on all kinds of shapes. Some of the leaves in the grass were lit up by tiny insects in the grass, glowing bright blue, reminding Giovanni of the raven gourd lanterns that he'd seen the others carrying before.

After he passed the dark shadows from the forest of pine and oak trees, suddenly a wide open sky spread out before him, the pale Milky Way stretching right across the sky from south to north; a weather wheel monument standing all alone at the top of the hill. The ground was covered in bell flowers and wild chrysanthemums, blooming with a fragrance from out of a dream. A lone bird chirped busily as it flew over the hill.

Giovanni reached the base of the weather wheel monument and then threw his steaming hot body into the cool grass.

The lights of the town rose up in the darkness like those from a palace at the bottom of the ocean, and even the sound of children singing and whistling, and echoes of their screams reached as far as Giovanni's ears, if only faintly. From far in the distance came the sound of the wind, a wave rolling silently through the grass on the hill, cooling Giovanni's shirt, wet from perspiration. Giovanni looked across at the dark fields that stretched from the edge of town far into the distance.

From there came the sound of a train. The windows of that tiny train looked so small and red, all lined up in a row. Thinking of all the travelers inside, peeling their apples, laughing or doing any number of other things made Giovanni awfully sad, and he looked up at the sky once more.

They say that white ribbon in the sky is filled with stars.

But no matter how long he looked up at the sky, it didn't seem cold and empty like the teacher had described it that afternoon. In fact, the more he looked, the more certain he was that he could see small woodlands, farms and fields. Then Giovanni saw the blue stars of Lyra become three and then four, twinkling busily in the sky, stretching out their leg, and drawing it back in, over and over again, before finally sticking it right out like a mushroom. And now even the town directly below appeared all hazy as if it were a massive cluster of stars, or an enormous cloud of smoke.
Chapter 6 - Milky Way Station

Giovanni suddenly noticed that the weather wheel monument behind him was now all mist-like and had started to take the shape of a signal tower, and for several moments it flashed on and off like a firefly. It gradually came into focus, before finally coming to a complete standstill, standing upright in the dark steel-blue field in the sky. There it stood, upright, all on its own, in the field in the sky that was like a sheet of blue steel that has just emerged from a furnace.

Just then Giovanni heard a strange voice. "Milky Way Station, Milky Way Station," and suddenly everything was lit up as bright as if the fire from a billion firefly squid had been petrified and submerged in the sky, or as if a diamond company had been hording diamonds to stop the price from falling, and someone had suddenly tipped them all over and scattered them everywhere. It was a dazzling light and Giovanni rubbed at his eyes over and over.

And then he realized that this small train he was riding on, had been traveling chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, for some time already. Giovanni was in fact sitting down, staring out the window of a train carriage lined with small yellow lights, on the late-night light railway. The velvet seats in the carriage were virtually empty. Two large brass buttons sparkled on the opposite wall, coated in a gray varnish.

Giovanni now saw that sitting in the seat facing his, was a tall boy wearing a black coat that seemed to be soaked through, and who had his head out the window looking at something outside. There was something familiar about this boy's shoulders, and Giovanni could no longer resist the urge to find out who it was. Just as he moved to stick his head out of the window too, the other boy pulled his head back in and turned to face Giovanni.

It was Campanella.

Giovanni was just about to say _Have you been on here the whole time?_ when Campanella said,

"They ran pretty hard, but they were too slow. Even Zanelli ran hard, but he couldn't catch up."

_Oh, that's right, we are supposed to be going somewhere together,_ thought Giovanni.

"Shall we get off someplace and wait for the others?" he asked.

"Zanelli's already gone home. His dad came to pick him up."

As Campanella spoke these words his face turned pale and a pained look came over his face.

Giovanni had a strange feeling he'd forgotten something, somewhere, and he couldn't think of anything to say.

But after watching the scenery out the window, Campanella suddenly felt much better.

"Oh no!" he cried out. "I forgot my water bottle. And my sketch pad. Ah, it doesn't matter. We're nearly at Swan Station. I love to watch the swans fly. I bet I can still see them even when they fly way down river."

He then looked down at the disc-shaped map in his hands, turning it round and round. Campanella's map was marked with a single railway line that ran further and further south along the left hand bank of the Celestial River that was shown in white. But the amazing thing about this map was that the disc, which was as dark as night, had been inlaid with each of the stations, signal towers, lakes and forests, with beautiful lights of blue, orange and green. Giovanni thought there was something familiar about it.

"Where did you buy this? It's volcanic glass, isn't it?"

"I got it at Milky Way Station. Didn't you get one?"

"Ah, I'm not sure I passed through Milky Way Station. Is this where we're at now?" said Giovanni pointing to the word 'Swan' written just north of a station symbol.

"Yeah. Hey, is that the moonlight on the river bank?"

Giovanni looked out the window to see a virtual sea of silver grass along the bank of the pale-blue shining Celestial River, the wind blowing ripples through its midst, making it rustle as it danced backwards and forwards.

"No, that's not the moonlight. It's bright because it's the Milky Way," said Giovanni who was so happy he felt like jumping up and down. He slapped his legs and stuck his head out the window, whistling the Star Safari song as loud as he could, stretching right out so he could make out the water in the Celestial River. But at first, he couldn't see anything there, no matter how hard he stared. Then, after concentrating for some time, the beautiful water, more transparent than glass, or even hydrogen, finally came into focus, and as it flowed steadily past without sound, he thought he saw it rise up into fine purplish waves, and sparkle with the colors of the rainbow.

The grass plains in every direction were covered in beautiful phosphorescent signal towers. The distant ones were small and the close ones big; the distant ones were orange or yellow and clearly defined, while the close ones were pale blue and slightly misty, or they were triangular or rectangular, or they were in the shape of lightning or chains; and they lit up the grass plains in a wonderful array of formations. Giovanni's heart was pounding and he shook his head wildly from side to side. As he did so, each of the blue and orange signal towers on that beautiful grass plain, flickered and shuddered as if they were breathing in sync.

"We are really in a field in the sky. But you know, this train isn't running on coal," said Giovanni, sticking his left hand on the window frame and peering up towards the front of the train.

"I wonder if it runs on alcohol or electricity?" said Campanella.

The tiny majestic train traveled on endlessly, chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, through the silver grass in the sky that rippled beneath the wind; passed the water of the Celestial River and the pale-blue whispers of light from the signal markers.

"Look, a flowering gentian," cried Campanella, pointing out the window. "Autumn is really here now."

In the short grass bordering the rail tracks was a spectacular purple gentian, as though it had been carved from moonstone.

"Shall I jump out and grab it and then jump back in?" asked Giovanni, his heart racing with excitement.

"No, it's too late. We've gone too far past," answered Campanella, but before he could finish, another brightly shining gentian flashed by.

Then another and another; hundreds of yellow-bottomed gentian flower cups zipped past like a gushing spring, or a pouring rain, and the row of signal towers grew brighter and brighter, as if they were smoking or on fire.

Chapter 7 - The Northern Cross and Pliocene Coast

"I wonder if mother will forgive me!" stammered Campanella suddenly all flustered.

_Ah, that's right, my mother is way down there near that tiny orange signal that is as tiny as a speck of dust, and she was thinking of me just now_ , thought Giovanni absent-mindedly.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do to make Mother happy. But what could I do that would make her truly happy?" wondered Campanella, fighting back tears.

"But your mother doesn't have it that bad, does she?" exclaimed Giovanni in surprise.

"I don't know. But I guess for anyone, if you do something that is really good, you'll make them truly happy. So I think Mother will forgive me," said Campanella, appearing to have consoled himself.

Suddenly the inside of the train was filled with a bright white light. Looking outside they saw water flowing without shape or sound over the glittering bed of the Celestial River that was like a mound of diamonds or dew drops on grass, or everything of real splendor; and situated in the middle of that flowing water was a single island, over which rose a misty pale-blue halo. On the island's flat peak, stood the most magnificent breathtakingly white cross, which could have been cast from a cloud from the frozen North Pole, crowned by a single golden halo, standing in silence for an eternity.

"Hallelujah, Hallelujah!" came voices from the seats behind and in front. When the boys turned around they saw that all the other travelers were standing up straight, their clothes neatly pressed, with some holding black bibles against their breasts, and others with crystal rosary beads around their necks. Every one of them had their hands together, praying with reverence in the direction of the cross. Both boys immediately got to their feet. Campanella's cheeks had a beautiful glow; the color of a fully-ripened apple.

The island and its cross gradually moved toward the back of the train, fading into the distance.

A misty pale-blue glow rose from the opposite bank, its silvery color blurring each time the wind blew through the silver grass, as if it had been breathed upon. The mass of gentian flowers gave the impression of a gentle Will-o'-the-wisp as they ducked in and out of the grass.

But this was visible for only the briefest of moments; the space between the river and the train obstructed by the row of silver grass soon after, and although they caught sight of Swan Island twice more behind the train, it was soon so tiny and so far off, it now only seemed no more than a painting; and after the wind rustled the silver grass one more time, it vanished from sight altogether.

A tall catholic nun, who had boarded the train at some stage, was sitting behind Giovanni wearing a black veil, her large hazel eyes staring directly down in a reverential pose, as if expecting to hear some kind of message or voice from that direction. The other travelers quietly returned to their seats and the two boys began talking in hushed voices about this entirely new feeling; a kind of overwhelming sadness.

"We're nearly at Swan Station."

"Yeah, we'll get there right on 11 O'clock."

Before long, green signal lights and dull white pillars began to flash by, after which the lights in front of the railroad switch, like shadowy flames of sulfur, passed beneath the window, as the train continued to slow. Soon the lights of the platform came into view, in a beautiful neat row, gradually growing in size, the distance between each widening, before the train finally came to a stop; the two boys now directly in front of the large clock at Swan Station.

On this crisp autumn evening, the two blue-steel hands on the clock's dial pointed exactly to 11 O'clock. All the other passengers alighted and the carriage was suddenly empty.

A note beneath the clock said:  
_Stopping for 20 minutes_

"Shall we get off too?" suggested Giovanni.

"Yeah, let's."

The two boys jumped up, raced out the door and ran toward the ticket gate. But the ticket gate was completely deserted, and there was nothing but a single bright purple light. They looked all about but there was no sign of a station master or porter anywhere.

They came out into a small courtyard of ginkgo trees that appeared to be made of fine quartz crystal. From there they could see a wide road that continued straight through the blue light of the Celestial River.

There was no sign of any of the other passengers who had also gotten off the train. As the two boys walked side by side down this white road, their shadows multiplied endlessly in every direction, like two columns inside a room with windows on all sides, or the spokes of two wheels.

Before long they arrived at the beautiful river bank they had seen from the train.

Campanella took a handful of the magnificent sand and spread it out on his palm, making it squeak as he drew his finger across it. Then, as if in a dream, he said,

"They are all quartz. There's a tiny flame inside each one."

"Yeah, I know," answered Giovanni absent-mindedly, though he wondered how he could have.

All the stones by the river bank were transparent. Here they could see quartz and topaz, and sapphires with wrinkles and creases from which pale blue light radiated out, rising up like a mist. Giovanni ran down to the shoreline and placed his hands in the water. But this mysterious water of the Celestial River was even more transparent than hydrogen. They could tell that it was really flowing because the water where they submerged their hands turned a slight mercury-color; and the ripples caused by the water bouncing off their wrists gave off a beautiful phosphorescence, flickering as if it were a flame.

Further upstream, continuing alongside the river, they could see a large white rock, as level as a school playground, jutting out from beneath a cliff face covered in silver grass. On top of the rock they could see the silhouettes of five or six people that were standing up and bending down as if digging up or burying something, light occasionally glimmering off the tools in their hands.

"Come on, let's go," they cried in unison, and ran off in that direction. When they got to the white rock there was a shiny smooth ceramic sign that said 'Pliocene Coast.'

The area leading down towards the shoreline was dotted with thin metal handrails fixed to the ground, and beautiful wooden benches.

Campanella stopped to pick up something black lying on top of the rock that had a long thin pointy end.

"This is weird," he said, a curious look on his face.

"It's a walnut. Look, there's heaps of them. But they didn't wash up here. They've come out of the rock."

"It's big. It's twice as big as a normal one. And it doesn't look damaged at all."

"Come on, let's go have a look over there. I bet they are digging something up."

The boys continued walking over toward where the others were gathered, jagged black walnuts in hand. To their left, waves of fire lapped at the shoreline like gentle streaks of lightning, while on the cliff to their right, a sea of silver grass, like a sheet of silver or sea shells, rocked gently in the breeze.

As they came nearer they saw that a tall man with thick spectacles and gumboots, evidently some kind of professor, was giving out all kinds of instructions in earnest to three other assistant types that were swinging pickaxes and digging with shovels, as he scribbled busily into his notebook.

"Make sure you don't break off the bit that's sticking out. Use the shovel, use the shovel! Watch what you're doing! Don't dig so close. Not like that. Why do you have to be so rough?!"

From out of the soft white rock, the pale-blue bones of a giant beast, lying on its side as though it had been squashed, had been dug up, and were now further out of the ground than in it. And now they saw that lying here and there, were ten or so squarish sections of rock, each with a pair of hoof prints, neatly cut out and numbered.

"You've come to have a look, have you?" said the man who looked like a professor, light reflecting off his glasses as he turned toward the boys.

"There are a lot of walnuts, aren't there? Roughly speaking, they'd be about 1.2 million years old. Quite recent really. 1.2 million years ago, after the Tertiary Period, this was a seashore. There are seashells buried under here as well. Where you see the river flowing now would all have been ocean, with waves rolling in and out. This beast here is what is known as a bos... Hey! Don't use the pickax for that. Use a chisel and do it carefully...Yes, it was a bos. It's an ancestor of today's cattle, and many, many years ago there were lots of them."

"Are you making specimens?"

"No, we need it for proof. You see, people like us look at this and we can find proof of a large geological formation that was created about 1.2 million years ago. But for some people, they might not be able to see this geological formation, or they might only be able to see the wind and the water, or the bare open sky. Do you understand? But... Hey, watch what you're doing! Don't use a shovel for that. The ribs are probably buried underneath...!" cried the professor, running over in a huff.

"Ah, it's almost time. Let's head back," said Campanella looking from his map to his watch.

"Well, thank you very much, but we must be going now," said Giovanni, bowing politely to the professor.

"Is that so? Goodbye then," said the professor, resuming his busy demeanor, walking back and forth giving instructions.

Worried that they might miss the train, the two boys ran like the wind over the white rock. And they truly could run like the wind. They didn't get short of breath and their legs didn't start to burn.

_If running was as easy as thi_ s, thought Giovanni, _I could run right round the world._

They passed back over that beautiful river bank once more, and then they saw the light above the ticket gate growing larger and larger, and soon they were back in their seats, looking out through the window in the direction they had just come.

Chapter 8 - The Bird Catcher

"Do you mind if I sit here?" said a husky but gentle-sounding voice from behind.

Standing there was a red bearded man with hunched shoulders wearing a slightly ragged brown coat, carrying a bundle wrapped in a white cloth over each shoulder.

"Sure, go ahead," replied Giovanni with a shrug of his shoulders. The man carefully put his bundles up on the luggage rack, a gentle smile showing through his beard. Giovanni sensed in this man a kind of intense loneliness (or was it sadness), and so he sat staring silently at the station clock outside the window, when from way up ahead there came the sound of a glass whistle. The train was already moving silently along. Campanella was looking up and down the carriage ceiling; a black rhinoceros beetle was resting on one of the lamps and was casting an enormous shadow across it. The red-bearded man gave a kind of nostalgic smile as he looked at each of the boys. The train gained more and more speed, light and shade alternating with sections of river and silver grass outside.

"May I ask how far you boys are going?" inquired the red-bearded man with some hesitation.

"We are going forever," replied Giovanni a little embarrassed.

"Oh that's good. You know, this train really _does_ go forever."

"Where are _you_ going?" blurted out Campanella as if he were angry, which made Giovanni laugh. The man wearing a pointy red hat with large keys dangling from his waist sitting opposite, also gave a quick look over and laughed, which made Campanella go red in the face, and then he burst out laughing too. But the red-bearded man wasn't bothered in the least, and his cheeks twitched excitedly as he replied,

"I get off quite soon. I'm in the business of catching birds, you see."

"What kind of birds?"

"Cranes and wild geese. Herons and swans as well."

"Are there a lot of cranes around here?"

"Yes indeed, they have been squawking for some time now. Haven't you heard them?"

"No."

"Can you hear them now? There. Listen carefully."

The boys turned their eyes and ears skyward and listened as hard as they could. They heard the vibrations from the train going chugga-chugga, and in between the rustling of the silver grass they heard a sound like a babbling brook.

"Why do you catch cranes?

"Cranes? Or herons?"

"Herons," replied Giovanni, not fussed which.

"Well, they are really quite easy. You see, with the herons, because the sand of the Celestial River is so compact and hazy, and because they always come back to the river, I wait by the river bank, and when they come into land with their legs like this, I catch them just as they are about to touch the ground. And as soon as I grab them they go all stiff and die in peace. The rest is quite simple. I just press them flat."

"You press the herons? To use as specimens?"

"Not specimens. Why, people eat them of course."

"That's weird," said Campanella, cocking his head sideways.

"There's nothing weird or suspicious about it. Here." The man stood up, took the bundles down from the luggage rack and quickly unrolled one.

"Look at these. I just caught them now."

"Wow, they're really heron!" exclaimed the boys. Ten snow white herons were lined up as if they had been sculptured; their bodies, which shone like the Northern Cross they'd seen earlier, were flattened and their black legs tucked in.

"Their eyes are shut," said Campanella, gently pressing a finger against the closed white crescent-shaped eye of a heron. The birds still had their white spear-like hair on their heads.

"Now do you see?"

The bird catcher folded the cloth over on itself and then rolled it back up and tied it with a string.

"Are herons nice to eat?" asked Giovanni, who was wondering what kind of people could possibly want to eat herons from here.

"Yes, I receive orders for them every day. But I sell a lot more wild geese. Wild geese have a lot more meat, and best of all, they are no trouble to prepare. Here," said the bird catcher and untied the other bundle. Inside were yellow and pale-blue speckled geese, glowing like a strange kind of lamp, all lined up as the herons were before; their beaks together, their bodies flattened out.

"You can eat these right away. Please have some."

The bird catcher pulled lightly on the goose's yellow leg, and it broke cleanly off as if it were made of chocolate.

"Go ahead. Try it," said the bird catcher, tearing that piece in two and handing it to the boys. Giovanni put some in his mouth.

_Ah, I knew it! This is candy,_ he thought. _It tastes even better than chocolate. But there's no way this goose ever flew! This guy must own a candy store somewhere out in those fields out there. But I shouldn't be making fun of him while I eat his candy. I really feel sorry for him,_ thought Giovanni, still munching on the goose's leg.

"Please have some more," said the bird catcher, opening up his bundle again.

"Thanks, but I've had enough," said Giovanni, although he did want more.

The bird catcher then offered some to the man with the keys sitting opposite.

"Thank you kindly, but shouldn't I be giving you something for it," said the man, taking off his hat.

"No, no, it's my pleasure. So how are the migratory birds looking this year?

"It's been spectacular; really. Yesterday, around interval two, I had all these phone calls from people complaining about the light house being turned off outside regulation hours. But it wasn't my doing at all. All these migration birds formed a huge black mass as they passed in front of my light, so there was nothing I could do about it. I told them 'You silly numskulls! What's the point of complaining to me? Go tell that skinny old fella with the big baggy cloak, the long legs and the huge mouth! Ha ha ha, Ol' Scarecrow!"

The silver grass beside the track came to an end and the light from the distant field burst into the carriage.

"Why are herons so much trouble to prepare?" asked Campanella, as if he'd been waiting the whole time to ask.

"That's because, to eat a heron, you see," replied the bird catcher, as he turned to face the boys once more, "You either have to hang them in the light of the water of the Celestial River for ten days, or bury them in the sand for three to four days. That way the mercury vaporizes, and then they can be eaten."

"But this isn't a real bird. It's just candy, right?" asked Campanella matter-of-factly, having come to the same conclusion as Giovanni.

"Oh oh, I have to get off here," said the bird catcher in a fluster, and no sooner had he stood up to grab his bundles than he had completely vanished.

"Where did he go?"

Giovanni and Campanella looked at each other, but the lighthouse keeper just chuckled, stretching his neck round to look outside their window. When the boys also turned to look outside, they saw the bird catcher standing on a sea of pearly everlasting flowers glowing with a beautiful yellow and pale-blue phosphorescence; a look of intense concentration on his face, his arms spread wide apart, staring up into the sky.

"He's over there! How strange is that!? I bet he's going to catch more birds. I hope they come down before he gets left behind."

Just then, a massive flock of herons like the ones the man had just shown them, descended all at once from the deserted purple-blue sky, squawking like thunder: gyaah-gyaah gyaah-gyaah.

A look of great satisfaction came over the bird catcher's face as though everything had turned out just as he'd wished. He stood with his legs opened to exactly sixty degrees, and using both hands, he grabbed the black legs of the herons one after another as they came into land, placing the birds in his cloth sack. For a short time, the birds gave off a blue glow from inside the sack, blinking like fireflies; before closing their eyes and turning a smoky white color.

But the number of birds that landed unharmed on the sand beside the Celestial River without being caught, far outnumbered the ones that were. No sooner had those birds placed their feet on the bank of the river, than they shrank up and flattened out, just like melting snow, and in no time at all they had spread out on the sand and pebbles like molten copper taken straight from a furnace, the imprint of each bird remaining momentarily in the sand; and after glowing only two or three times, they could no longer be distinguished from the rest of their surroundings.

After he had placed twenty birds or so into his sack, he suddenly put both arms into the air like a soldier who has just been mortally shot, and the next instant there was no sign of the bird catcher at all, but instead Giovanni heard a familiar voice coming from the seat beside him.

"Ah, that was invigorating! It's a tremendous feeling to earn no more than you need."

The boys turned to see the bird catcher with all of the herons he had just caught; laying them carefully on top of one another.

"How did you get from there to here so fast?" asked Giovanni, suddenly unsure of whether such a thing was normal or not.

"How did I? Well, I came because I chose to. By the way, where have you boys actually come from?"

Giovanni went to answer him right away, but then suddenly realized that he couldn't remember. _Where had they come from?_ Campanella's face also turned red, as if he were trying to remember something too.

"I see. You've come a long way," said the bird catcher, simply nodding as though he understood.

Chapter 9 - Giovanni's Ticket

"This is the last of Swan Sector. Take a look. That's the great Albireo Observatory."

In the middle of the Celestial River that looked as if it were a mass of fireworks, stood four large black buildings, and silently orbiting above the flat roof of one of the buildings were two large, breathtakingly beautiful, transparent spheres of sapphire and topaz.

The yellow topaz sphere gradually orbited away from the train, while the smaller blue sapphire sphere orbited towards it. And then, as they crossed paths, their edges began to overlap, creating a beautiful green biconvex lens, of which the center slowly grew larger and larger, the sapphire eventually arriving directly in front of the topaz, forming a green circle surrounded by a yellow ring. It continued moving slowly sideways, repeating the shape of the previous lens in reverse, before finally separating completely, the sapphire now moving away from the train, the yellow sphere now moving towards it, orbiting once more as before.

The black observatory appeared to be sleeping, lying silently surrounded by the water of the Celestial River that was without shape or sound.

"It's a machine for measuring the speed of water," said the bird catcher. "Water ..." he started to say before he was cut off.

"Tickets please," said a tall conductor in a red cap, who had come up unnoticed and was now standing beside their seats. The bird catcher silently reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. The conductor took a quick look at it before turning his attention to the boys, reaching out and moving his fingers as if to say - _And how about you?_

"Umm..."

Unsure of what to do, Giovanni began to fidget about, but Campanella casually handed over a small gray ticket as if it were no big deal.

Now Giovanni really started to panic, and thinking that his ticket might be in his coat pocket, he quickly shoved his hand into his pocket and came upon a large folded up piece of paper. Wondering how such a thing could have gotten into his pocket, he quickly pulled it out and saw that it was a green piece of paper about the size of a postcard folded twice-over. Giovanni placed it straight into the conductor's outstretched hand, thinking anything had to be better than nothing. The conductor stood up straight and began carefully unfolding it. As he started reading it, he began straightening his uniform and adjusting the buttons on his jacket, while the lighthouse keeper also peered up at it with a look of utmost interest on his face. Thinking he must have handed over some kind of identity card, Giovanni suddenly began to get all nervous.

"Did you bring this with you from the three-dimensional world?" asked the conductor.

"I don't know what it is," replied Giovanni, smiling up at the conductor as though confident everything would now be alright.

"That's fine. We arrive at Southern Cross at around the next hour of three," said the conductor, returning the paper to Giovanni and walking off.

Campanella couldn't wait to see what was written on the paper, and hurriedly leaned across to take a look. Giovanni himself was dying to see what it was. Printed on the inside of the paper was a black interlacing pattern, with around ten weird looking characters written inside, and as Giovanni sat staring silently at it, he felt as though he were being slowly sucked inside. After glancing over, the bird catcher was unable to hide his surprise,

"Whoa, you've got something special there! With that ticket, you can go all the way to Heaven. And not just Heaven; you can go wherever you want. So you've got one of those, have you?! Well of course you can go forever on this never-ending magical Milky Way Railway of the fourth dimension! You two are very special indeed."

"I don't know what it is," repeated Giovanni, his face reddening as he folded up the ticket and put it back in his pocket.

Feeling embarrassed, Giovanni turned to look out the window together with Campanella, but occasionally he could feel the bird catcher shooting glances their way; as if to remind them just how special they were.

"We're nearly at Eagle Station," said Campanella comparing the three small pale-blue signal towers lined up along the opposite shore with his map.

For some reason that he was unable to understand, Giovanni was suddenly overcome with pity for the bird catcher that was sitting beside him. When Giovanni thought about this man – the way he thought catching heron was so invigorating; the way he wrapped them up in that white cloth; not to mention the way he was so surprised when he looked over Giovanni's shoulder at the ticket and started showering them with praise - it made him feel like giving this complete stranger everything, all the food that he had. Why, if it would make the bird catcher truly happy, Giovanni would gladly stand on the shore of that sparkling Celestial River for a hundred years catching birds for him, and suddenly he felt compelled to tell him so. He was about to ask the bird catcher, _What is it that you really want?_ but then he thought better of asking such a direct question.

As he sat thinking about what to say, he glanced over his shoulder and discovered that the bird catcher was no longer there. The white bundles on the luggage rack had also disappeared. Giovanni then turned to look out the window, expecting to see the bird catcher with his feet planted on the shore staring up at the sky, getting ready to catch some more herons, but the only thing to see out there was a beautiful bed of sand and rolling waves of white silver grass, and there was no sign of the bird catcher's broad shoulders or his pointy hat.

"Where'd he go?" asked Campanella absent-mindedly.

"Yeah, where did he go? I'm sure we will see him again somewhere. For some reason, I found it hard to talk to him."

"Yeah, I felt the same."

"I felt like he was kind of in the way. It was really hard for me."

This was the first time Giovanni had ever had such a strange feeling, and he couldn't remember ever having said such a thing before.

"I can smell apples. I wonder if that's because I was just thinking of apples," said Campanella, looking all around, a curious look on his face.

"I can smell them too. And I can smell baby rose," said Giovanni, who was also looking all about. But it seemed that the fragrance was coming in through the window. Giovanni thought that he shouldn't be able to smell baby rose, because it was autumn and baby rose bloomed in early summer.

Suddenly there appeared a boy with shiny black hair, around six years of age. He had on a red jacket with all the buttons undone, and was standing there trembling all over with a look of complete shock. Standing beside him like a zelkova tree being buffeted by strong winds, was a tall young man dressed neatly in black, and he was holding firmly to the little boy's hand.

"Oh, where are we now? Oh, it's really beautiful."

A pretty brown-eyed girl of about twelve, wearing a black overcoat, was holding onto the young man's arm from behind as she stared with wonder out the window.

"Ah, we are in Lancashire," said the young man. "No, no, it's Connecticut. No, wait, we are up in the sky. We are on our way to heaven. Look at that. That's the symbol for heaven. We've nothing to be afraid of now. We have been called by God," he said to the girl, his face beaming with joy.

But soon a deep furrow returned to his forehead, and although obviously exhausted, he forced a smile as he sat the little boy down next to Giovanni.

He then gently guided the young girl into the seat next to Campanella. The girl sat quietly down, folding her hands neatly on her lap.

"I want to go with big sis'," said the boy, a painful expression on his face, to the young man who had just taken a seat opposite the lighthouse keeper. A look of immense sadness spread over the young man's face as he sat staring at the little boy's wet curly hair. The girl put both hands up to her face and started to cry.

"Your sister Kikuyo and Papa still have work to take care of. But they'll be along soon enough. Rather, how about Mama? She's been waiting a long time to see you! Mama would have been terribly worried about you all this time; wondering what songs her precious little Tadashi was singing, and whether you were playing Ring Around the Rosie with everybody on mornings when it was snowing in the garden. Let's go see Mama."

"Yeah. But I wish we hadn't gotten on that ship."

"Yes, I know. But take a look out that window. Look at that beautiful river. Remember last summer, when it was bedtime, we sang _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star_ , and you could see all the stars shining from outside your window? That's them right there. Aren't they beautiful? So bright."

The boy's elder sister wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and also turned to look out the window. The young man continued talking to the children in a gentle voice as if he were instructing them.

"There's no reason for any of us to be sad anymore. We get to travel through this amazing place and soon we'll be with God. And where God is, everything is bright and smells magnificent and there are many wonderful people. And those people that were able to make it onto the boat instead of us, I'm sure they will have been saved, and they'll go back to their mamas and papas and their families who were all anxiously waiting for them. Well, we don't have far to go now, so cheer up and let's sing a happy song."

The young man ran his hand through the boy's damp black hair, the glow returning to his face as he comforted the children.

"Where have you all come from? What happened to you?" asked the lighthouse keeper, as though he had finally gained some idea of who these people were.

A gentle smile appeared on the young man's face.

"Ah, we hit an iceberg and our ship sank. We were on our way to meet up with their father who had already returned home on urgent business some two months ago. I am a university student, and I was employed as their tutor. But around the twelfth day, today or perhaps yesterday, the ship hit an iceberg and in no time at all it lurched over and began to sink. There was a small smattering of moonlight, but everything was covered in a very heavy fog. To make matters worse, more than half of the lifeboats on the port side were out of reach, so there weren't nearly enough lifeboats for all of the passengers.

"I knew the ship could sink at any moment so I began pleading at the top of my voice for people to let the children onto the lifeboats. People nearby quickly made way, and started to pray for the children. But in front of the lifeboats there were so many other small children, as well as their parents and others, and I hadn't the courage to push my way past them. But still, I felt it was my duty to do all that I could to save these children, so I decided to push past those children that were in front. But then it occurred to me that, rather than saving them in such a fashion, I could bring them greater happiness if I were to accompany them to the place of God.

"But then, my mind shifted again, and I decided that I must save these children at all costs, and I alone would bear the sin for turning my back on God. But as I watched on, I realized that there was just no way that I could. I saw mothers that were beside themselves as they placed their children alone in lifeboats and kissed them goodbye; I saw fathers standing by, their heads held high, doing what they could to hide their despair; it was utterly heartbreaking.

"And soon the ship began to sink into the ocean, so preparing myself for the worst, I decided that I would hold tightly to these two and try and float for as long as I could, and we huddled together waiting for the ship to sink. Someone threw a lifebuoy toward us but it slipped out of my fingers and passed out of reach. I hurriedly ripped away some of the grating on the deck, and the three of us clung tightly to it. From somewhere, I could hear someone singing Nearer, My God, To Thee. And soon everyone joined in, in all their different languages. Just then the ship gave out a massive crack, like metal giving way, and we all fell into the water. I held tightly to the children as we were being pulled into a whirlpool, and then everything became a blur... and the next thing I knew we were here.

"These children lost their mother the year before last. I am sure those people that made it to the lifeboats would have been rescued. After all, they had very experienced sailors to quickly row them away from the sinking ship."

Suddenly there was only the sound of someone praying softly, and Giovanni and Campanella began to remember things they had forgotten; tears welling up in their eyes.

I wonder if that big ocean he was talking about was the Pacific. Pa is way up near the north pole, icebergs floating in the sea, working his heart out on a tiny little boat; fighting against the wind, freezing ocean water and extreme cold so he can bring me a warmer coat. And Ma is terribly worried about him, and now she's sick, and I need to get her milk for her.

It makes me so sad, and I wish there was something I could do for them. But what can I do to make them happy?

Giovanni's head hung low and he became all gloomy.

"It's impossible to know what happiness is," said the lighthouse keeper, offering the young man words of comfort. "No matter how terrible something is, if it happens while you are walking on the right path; every step you take, whether it be up or down the mountain, takes you closer to true happiness."

"Yes, that's true. And all of that sorrow that we experience in order to attain the ultimate happiness is God's work," replied the young man as if he were reciting a prayer.

The boy and his sister were now slumped in their seats, fast asleep. Their feet, bare when they first appeared, were now fitted in soft white shoes.

The train continued chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, along the bank of the glittering phosphorescent river. Out of the opposite window the field looked like a scene from a magic lantern. There were hundreds, or perhaps thousands of signal towers of all sizes. On top of the large towers were white survey flags with red dots, and the far end of the field was covered in so many of them, it appeared like a massive pale-blue mist. And every now and then, from out of their midst, or perhaps from further beyond, flares of all shapes and sizes, rose up into the beautiful purplish-blue sky, one after another. The beautiful transparent wind was truly filled with the scent of roses.

"What do you think of these? I bet you've never seen apples like these before."

The lighthouse keeper was holding several large apples on his lap, of a beautiful gold and crimson color, supporting them with both hands to stop them from falling.

"Oh, where did you get those? They are beauties! Can you grow apples like that here?" The young man was really quite astonished and completely forgot himself, staring in wonder at the pile of apples in the lighthouse keeper's hands from all angles.

"Go on, take one. Please, go ahead."

The young man took an apple and then looked over at Giovanni and Campanella.

"And how about you kids there? Would you like an apple? Please have one too."

Giovanni didn't say anything because he didn't like being called a 'kid,' but Campanella said "Yes please," and so the young man grabbed an apple for each of them and passed them over, so Giovanni stood up to say thank you.

Now with his hands free once again, the lighthouse keeper stood up and quietly placed one each beside the sleeping children.

"Thank you kindly. Where do you grow such wonderful apples," asked the young man, as he studied the apple intently.

"Although people do farm around here, most of the time things just grow on their own. Farming here is not difficult at all. Most of the time, all you need to do is plant the seed for what you wish to grow, and it will grow up all on its own. Even the rice here, it is ten times bigger than that grown around the Pacific and it has a magnificent aroma without any hull. Although, where you are going, there is no farming.

"The food here, whether it be apples or even candy, has no waste parts, and it gives the people who eat it a beautiful unique aroma that seeps through the pores of their skin."

Suddenly the little boy opened his eyes.

"I just had a dream about Mama. She was in a place with all these wonderful cupboards and books, and she was smiling happily at me. I said, 'Mama, do you want me to go get some apples for you?' and then I woke up. Oh, this is the train we were riding on before."

"There's the apple there," said the young man. "This gentleman gave it to you."

"Thank you Mister. Is Kaoru still sleeping? I'll wake her up. Look sis'! The man gave us apples. Wake up."

His sister woke with a smile, rubbing her eyes with both hands to shade them from the sudden brightness, and then looked down at the apple. They began peeling the apples with glittering knives that had appeared from somewhere, but it was soon apparent that they didn't need peeling at all. The little boy had already started eating his like it was a pie, and the beautiful skin, peeled so carefully, twisted round and round like a cork screw, and then turned a misty gray and disappeared into thin air before it could fall to the floor.

Giovanni and Campanella placed their apples carefully in their pockets.

"Where are we now?" asked Giovanni.

"Just here," answered Campanella pointing to a place just south of Eagle Station.

"Have we already passed Eagle Station?"

"Yeah. We passed it when that man was talking about the ship."

On the opposite river bank was a large, lush green forest, the branches of its trees covered in bright red, fully-ripened fruit, a huge signal tower at its center. From out of the forest came music of inexpressible beauty, like a combination of a bell lyre and a xylophone, melting and diffusing into the wind as it floated upon it.

The young man gave an involuntary shiver.

Listening quietly to that music brought to mind images of a huge brightly lit field, or yellow and lime green carpet, spreading out in front of one, or an image of a dewdrop like pure-white wax, grazing against the surface of the sun.

"Ah, look at those crows!" exclaimed the girl called Kaoru, sitting beside Campanella.

"They're not crows! They're magpies!" shot back Campanella without thinking. He sounded as if he were scolding her, and Giovanni laughed as before, but the girl became embarrassed. Hundreds and hundreds of black birds were all standing on top of the pale-blue light of the shore, their bodies gently reflecting the light from the river.

"Yes, they are magpies alright. You can tell by the feathers standing upright at the back of their head," said the young man, trying to make peace between the two children.

The signal tower in the middle of the distant green forest was now directly in front of them.

And then, from down the very back of the train, came the sound of that familiar hymn, _Nearer, My God, To Thee_. It sounded as if it were being hummed by a large chorus of people. The face of the young man turned pale, and for a moment he stood up, ready to join them, but then he changed his mind and sat back down again. Kaoru put her handkerchief up to her face. Even Giovanni felt a tingling sensation in his nose. And then somebody began to sing, and the singing quickly became louder and clearer. Without thinking Giovanni and Campanella also joined in.

Gradually the forest of green olive trees moved to the rear of the train, flashing with light as it faded from view on the other side of the invisible Celestial River. The mysterious sound of the musical instruments coming from that direction was whittled down by the wind and the vibrations of the train, eventually becoming no more than a whisper.

"Look, there are peacocks there."

"Yes! There's lots of them," answered the girl.

Giovanni was watching the pale-blue light reflected off the wings of the peacocks as they fanned them in and out, creating flashes above the forest as it receded further and further; now no bigger than a mother-of-pearl button.

"Ah, it was the singing of peacocks that we could hear," said Campanella to Kaoru.

"Yes, there must have been at least thirty of them," answered the girl. "It was the peacocks making that music like a harp."

Giovanni suddenly felt terribly alone, and wanted to screw up his face and shout:

Campanella, let's jump out here and play!

Just there the river divided into two. An immensely tall tower rose up from the middle of the pitch black island that formed between the two branches of the river, and standing on top of it was a man in loose-fitting clothes and a red hat. He was looking up at the sky, giving signals using a red flag in one hand and a green flag in the other. At first he was waving the red flag in the air, but then suddenly pulled it down and hid it out of sight behind his back. He then raised the green flag as high as he could, and started waving it furiously like the conductor of an orchestra.

Immediately from out of the sky came a sound like a rain storm, and one after another, a mass of black shadows flew like bullets from a gun over to the other side of the river. Giovanni was leaning half-way out of the train, looking up at the sky. Tens of thousands of small birds, each squawking furiously, flew across the beautiful, beautiful wide-open purplish-blue sky; flock after flock.

"Look at all the birds," said Giovanni from outside the window.

"Whoa..!" exclaimed Campanella, looking up at the sky. Just then the man standing in the tower with the loose-fitting clothes suddenly raised his red flag and started waving it like crazy. Instantly the birds ceased crossing, and at the same time, from down river, there came a huge booming noise, like something being squashed, and then silence.

And then suddenly the flagman with the red hat was waving his green flag again, yelling:

"Migration birds. Now is the time to cross! Migration birds. Now is the time to cross!"

His voice could be heard loud and clear. And simultaneously a group of tens of thousands of birds flew straight across the sky. Kaoru stuck her head out the same middle window the boys had theirs out, and looked up at the sky with a beautiful glow upon her cheeks.

"Oh, there are so many birds. The sky looks so beautiful."

She was speaking to Giovanni, but Giovanni was still feeling a little peevish and he ignored her, continuing to look up at the sky. Kaoru gave a small sigh and quietly returned to her seat. Feeling sorry for her, Campanella also pulled his head back in and sat down to look at his map.

"Is that man directing the birds?" Kaoru asked Campanella quietly.

"He's signaling the migrating birds. It's probably because a flare was being sent up from somewhere," he answered with uncertainty. Suddenly it was all quiet inside the train. Giovanni wanted to pull his head back in too, but he didn't want to show his face inside the brightly lit carriage, so he stayed upright and started to whistle.

Why do I have to be so sad? I wish I could be more pure-hearted and generous. Way down there, by the edge of the river, there's a tiny blue smoky flame. It looks really cold and silent. I'll calm myself by staring at that.

Giovanni pressed a hand on either side of his head that was hot and aching, and stared at the flame.

Ah, isn't there anyone who will travel with me forever? Campanella is having so much fun talking with that girl. It makes me so miserable.

Giovanni's eyes once again filled with tears, and the Celestial River became all white and hazy as if it were now far in the distance.

The distance to the river had slowly widened, and the train was now traveling along the top of a cliff. The river bank and the dark cliffs on the other side rose higher and higher as the train continued downstream. Suddenly the train passed a large corn plant. Beneath its curly leaves, red silky fibers spilt out of a large ear, its fruit, like a pearl, visible for only the briefest of moments. The corn plants then grew in number, forming a row between the edge of the cliff and the railway line. Giovanni pulled his head back in and looked out the opposite window and saw that this field of giant corn covered almost everything to the horizon. The tips of those curly leaves, rustling gently in the breeze, were covered in dew, sparkling with reds and greens like diamonds packed with rays from the midday sun.

"Is that all corn?" said Campanella to Giovanni, but Giovanni couldn't get rid of that feeling he had, and just muttered, "Yeah, I guess so," and continued staring out the window.

Just then the vibrations of the train began to soften, and the lights of several signals and a rail line switch passed by, and then the train pulled up at a small railway station.

The clock directly in front of the carriage window was pointing directly to the hour of two, and in the middle of that silent, silent field, without wind or rattle from the train, the clock pendulum carefully etched away time - tick, tick, tick.

And then, from the farthest reaches of a far distant field, came the faintest whispers of a melody, floating as if on a thread, in the intervals between each tick of the clock.

"Oh, that's the New World Symphony _,_ " murmured the girl to herself, while looking at Giovanni. Inside the carriage, the passengers including the tall young man dressed in black, were all dreaming peacefully.

This is such a peaceful place. Why can't I enjoy myself more? Why is it just me that feels so lonely? But I can't believe Campanella! We are supposed to be riding this train together and he spends all his time talking to that girl. I feel so miserable.

Giovanni again covered half his face with his hands, as he continued staring out the window on the opposite side. The train gave a whistle as clear as glass and quietly moved off. Campanella was whistling the Star Safari song, a lonely look on his face.

"Oh yes, this is a terrific plateau here," said an elderly-sounding man from behind. He spoke crisply as though he had just woken.

"If you wanted to plant corn here you'd have to get a pole and make a hole around sixty centimeters deep, and put the seed in that, otherwise it wouldn't grow.

"Is that so? It must be a long way down to the river."

"Certainly, yes. It ranges from between 600 to 1,800 meters. It's quite a massive canyon really."

It suddenly occurred to Giovanni that they must be on top of the Colorado Plateau. Campanella was still whistling sadly to himself. Kaoru was staring out the same window as Giovanni, her cheeks the color of an apple wrapped in silk. Suddenly the corn disappeared from view and an enormous black field opened up in its place. The music of the _New World Symphony_ became more and more distinct, streaming across from the far edge of the horizon. Then, from out of that pitch-black field came an Indian, a white feather in his hair, stones spread across his arms and chest, a small arrow in his bow as he raced after the train at terrific speed.

"Hey, there's an Indian. There's an Indian. Look, look."

The young man woke up. Giovanni and Campanella both got to their feet.

"He's running this way, look, he's running this way. Do you think he is chasing us?" asked the girl.

"No, he's not chasing after the train. He's either hunting something, or he's doing some kind of dance," said the young man reaching into his pocket as he stood up, appearing to have forgotten where he was.

The Indian really did look as if he were half dancing. The way he was placing his feet was quite strange, and he could have been running a lot faster if he wanted. Suddenly the white feather leaned forward as if it might fall, and the Indian came to a complete stop, firing his bow into the sky with lightning speed. A crane fluttered noisily through the air as it fell, falling into the outstretched arms of the Indian who had run to catch it. He then stood there laughing, extremely pleased with himself.

But the figure of the Indian standing there staring at the train with the crane in his arms grew smaller and smaller, fading into the distance. Two white gleaming insulators on top of a power pole flashed by in succession and once again there was a forest of corn.

Looking out the window closest to their seat, they could see that the train was traveling along a very high cliff, and the river in the valley way down below was wide and bright.

"Yes, it's downhill from here. From here the train has to descend all the way to the water's edge, so it's no easy task. The steepness of the gradient makes it impossible for trains to come from the other direction. See, we are picking up speed now," said the same man as before.

The train descended further and further. The passengers caught a glimpse of the bright river below each time the railway line pushed up against the edge of the cliff. Giovanni's mood began to brighten. A sad-looking child was standing out the front of a tiny cottage looking up at the train as it passed by, and Giovanni hollered out to him.

The train picked up more and more speed. The passengers were now leaning right back and holding on tightly to their arm rests. Giovanni looked across at Campanella and they laughed together. They leveled out once again with the Celestial River that was now flowing with far greater force, occasionally sending up splashes of light as it flowed by, its shore dotted with pink fringe flowers. The train slowed down, finally regaining its composure.

On each side of the river stood a flag with a star and a pickax.

"I wonder what that flag is," said Giovanni, finding his voice at last.

"Yeah, I don't know, it's not on the map. There's an iron ship over there."

"Yeah."

"Perhaps they are building a bridge," said the girl.

"Ah that's it, it's the flag of the Engineer Brigade. They are doing bridge-building drills. But I don't see any soldiers."

Just then, a little further downstream near the shore on the other side, a brilliant flash raced through that invisible water, sending it up into a giant column, and at the same time there was the sound of a great blast.

"They are blasting! They are blasting!" cried Campanella, jumping up excitedly.

The water that had risen up like a column disappeared, but dozens of huge salmon and trout had been flung up out of the river, their white bellies glittering as they traced an arc through the air, before falling back down into the water again. Giovanni felt as if all of his troubles had been lifted, and he felt like jumping into the air too.

"It's the Sky Engineer Battalion! Did you see that!? Those trout and those other fish just got flung right up into the air? I've never been on such an excellent trip. This is great!"

"If you got up close to those trout they'd be _this_ big! There's tons of fish in that water."

"I wonder if there are any small fish in there," said the girl, swept up into the conversation.

"There probably is," said Giovanni smiling enthusiastically, feeling his normal self again. "If there are big ones then there must be little ones too. But it's too far away to see the little ones from here."

"It's the twin star palaces!" cried the little boy, pointing out the window.

On a small hill to the right sat two small palaces that looked as if they were made of crystal.

"What are the twin star palaces?" asked Giovanni.

"Mama used to tell the story about them all the time," said Kaoru. "I can see two small crystal palaces right next to each other, so it probably is them."

"Tell us the story. What happened to the twin stars?"

"I know the story," said the little boy. "The twin stars went out in the field to play and they got into a fight with a crow, didn't they?"

"That's not it," said Kaoru. "Let me see... in the story that Mama told, on the shore of the Celestial River... "

"And the broom star went swoosh-swoosh, swoosh-swoosh."

"That's not it Tadashi, you've got it all wrong. That's a different story.

If that _is_ the twins, then they must be playing their flutes now."

"No they're in the ocean."

"No they're not. They got out of the ocean, remember."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I know it. I'll tell the story."

The opposite shore was suddenly lit up all red. All of the willow trees, everything, now shone bright red against a pitch black sky; red needle-like flashes rising up from the waves of the invisible Celestial River. An enormous crimson-colored fire was burning in the field on the opposite side of the river, its black smoke rising up into the cold purplish-blue sky, as if it to scorch it. The flame of the fire was redder and more transparent than a ruby; more beautiful and mesmerizing than a flame of lithium.

"What's that fire?" exclaimed Giovanni. "What could you burn to get such a red flame?"

"That must be the Fire of the Scorpion," said Campanella, checking his map.

"Oh, I know the story about the Fire of the Scorpion," said Kaoru.

"What's the Fire of the Scorpion?" asked Giovanni.

"The scorpion was burnt up in a fire. But that fire is still burning. Papa told me the story lots of times."

"A scorpion is just some kind of bug, right?"

"Yes, but the scorpion is good."

"Scorpion's aren't good. I saw one in the museum that was preserved in alcohol. It had a hook on its tail like this, and our teacher said that if you got stung by one you'd die."

"That's true, but the scorpion _is_ good. Papa told us the story. Long, long ago, there was a scorpion that lived in the fields of Badrah, who killed and ate all kinds of small bugs and insects. Then one day a weasel found it and tried to eat it. The scorpion tried to escape and ran and ran and ran, but it couldn't get away from the weasel, and just as the weasel was going to catch it, it fell down into a well. And as hard as it tried, it couldn't get back out again, and it started to drown. So the scorpion began to pray.

Ah, how many lives have I taken up until now? And yet, when the weasel tries to catch me, look how I run for my life. And in the end this is how I end up. Oh, what have I done? Why didn't I just offer my body to the weasel without running away? I could have given the weasel another day of life.

Dear God, please look into my heart. Instead of allowing me to throw my life away in vain, use my body to bring true happiness to the world.

And when the scorpion opened its eyes again, it saw that its body was burning with a bright red flame, lighting up the entire night sky. And papa said that the fire is still burning even now. That's what that fire is."

"Yeah. Look at that. The signal towers make the shape of a scorpion."

The three signal towers on the far side of the massive fire were in the shape of a scorpion's arms and the five on the near side were in the shape of a scorpion's tail and hook. And the beautiful crimson flame of the scorpion burned with incredible brightness, in total silence.

As the flame gradually receded into the distance, the passengers began to hear all kinds of merry music making, to smell the fragrance of flowers, and to hear the sounds of people whistling and talking excitedly. It sounded as if there was a village close by, in the midst of some kind of festival.

Suddenly the young boy next to Giovanni who had been asleep, looked out the opposite window and yelled, "Centaur! Send down your dew!"

Outside the window, beautiful green spruce and fir trees were decorated like Christmas trees with hundreds of small light bulbs, that looked like a thousand fireflies resting on their branches.

"Ah, that's right, tonight is the Centaur Festival," said Giovanni.

"Ah, this is the Centaur village here," added Campanella, checking with his map.

***********

"We are nearly at the Southern Cross. We get off here, so make yourselves ready," said the young man to the children.

"I want to stay on a bit longer," said the little boy.

Kaoru had a look of nervous excitement as she got to her feet and began making her preparations, but seemed reluctant to be leaving Giovanni and Campanella.

"We all have to get off here," said the young man, his voice unwavering as he looked down at the boy, his lips pursed tight.

"No. I want to go on a bit more."

"You can stay with us," said Giovanni, unable to resist any longer. "We've got a ticket that lets us go forever."

"But we have to get off here," said the girl sadly. "This is where we get off to go to Heaven."

"But you don't _have_ to go to Heaven! My teacher told us that we have to create a place here that is better than Heaven."

"But Mama is already there, and it's what God says."

"That God is not a real God."

"Your God is not a real God!"

"That's not true."

"What kind of God is your God?" asked the young man with a smile.

"I don't really know; all I know is that there's only one real God."

"Yes, of course there is only one real God."

"No, what I mean is that there is only one true, real God.

'Yes, that's exactly right. I pray, that in future, we shall meet you both once more before that one true, real God," said the young man, placing his hands respectfully together. Kaoru did the same. The sorrow of parting showed in their faces that had now turned pale. Giovanni looked ready to burst out crying.

"Ok then, are you ready? We'll be arriving at Southern Cross any moment now."

And then it appeared. Way up ahead they could now see a cross, inlaid with blues, oranges and every color of light, standing like a shimmering tree all alone in the middle of the river; a pale-blue cloud circling above it like a halo.

Inside the train there was a great commotion. Everyone stood up straight and began to pray, just as they had at the Northern Cross. The carriage was filled with cries of joy - like children grabbing at pieces of watermelon - and deep moans of respect. The train gradually approached the cross, and now they could see that the circular pale-blue cloud, the same color as the flesh of those apples, was rotating, ever so gently.

"Hallelujah, Hallelujah."

The joyful cries of the passengers reverberated throughout the train, and from far off in the sky; from far, far off in the cold distant sky, they heard the perfectly crisp, crystal clear sound of a trumpet. The train gradually slowed as it passed through a long series of signals and lights, finally coming to a stop directly in front of the cross.

"Right, here we go," said the young man, taking the hand of the little boy and walking towards the exit.

"Goodbye then," said the girl, turning to look at Giovanni and Campanella.

"Goodbye," shot back Giovanni almost angrily, fighting to hold back tears. The girl turned to look one last time, a painful expression in her wide-open eyes, before quietly walking away. A gust of wind rushed inside the carriage that now felt so empty after more than half the passengers had gotten off.

The three of them were soon on the shore of the Celestial River, kneeling down with reverence, directly in front of the cross. And as the two boys watched on, someone wearing a divine white robe, walked across the invisible water of the Celestial River from the other side; their arms outstretched. But just then the glass whistle sounded, and as the train began to move, a silvery fog drifted in from downstream, completely cutting off their view. All that could be seen were the brilliantly shining leaves from a dense row of walnut trees standing in the fog; a gorgeous golden-haloed electric squirrel stealing glances at them through its branches.

The fog began to lift, and they saw a path running alongside a row of small electric lights. It appeared to be a highway to somewhere, continuing alongside the railway line for some distance. Each of the purplish lights turned off as the boys passed in front; turning back on immediately after they had passed, like some form of greeting.

The cross was now so small it looked as if it could be hung from a necklace, and it was too hard to see whether the girl and her companions were still kneeling down on the white sand in front of the cross, or whether they had gone on to heaven, wherever that was.

Giovanni heaved a deep sigh.

"Campanella, it's just us two again. Let's keep traveling together, forever and ever. I want to be like that scorpion. If I could bring true happiness to everybody, I wouldn't even care if I was burnt up a hundred times over."

"Yeah, me too." Crystal clear tears welled in Campanella's eyes.

"But what really is true happiness?" wondered Giovanni.

"I don't know," replied Campanella absent-mindedly.

"Together we can do this," said Giovanni, breathing excitedly as if he were bursting with a new found energy.

"Look over there, it's the Coalsack. There's a hole in the sky," said Campanella, shrinking backwards as he pointed to a dark area in the Celestial River. Giovanni gave a start when he saw where Campanella was pointing. There was a gaping dark hole in the Celestial River. Giovanni tried to see how deep it was, or what was inside, but rubbing and straining his eyes only made them sore, and he wasn't able to see anything.

"Even if I was in the middle of that huge black space, I wouldn't be scared," said Giovanni. "I'm going to find out how to bring true happiness to the world. We'll go on together, forever and ever."

"Yeah, we will, for sure. Ah, look how beautiful that field is over there. There are lots of people too. That place is truly Heaven. I can see Mother over there!" cried Campanella, suddenly pointing out the window toward the beautiful field far off in the distance.

Giovanni looked to where Campanella was pointing, but all he could see was a smoky white haze; nothing like what Campanella was describing. Giovanni was overcome by a terrible loneliness as he sat staring vacantly out the window. Just then two telegraph poles linked with a red cross-arm, giving them the impression that each had an arm around the other, passed by on the opposite shore.

"Campanella, we'll travel on together, won't we?" asked Giovanni, but when he turned around to where Campanella had been sitting, there was nothing but a shiny velvet seat, and no sign of Campanella. Giovanni jumped up like a bullet fired from a gun. He thrust his head and shoulders out the window so nobody could hear him and screamed and beat his fists against his breast before sobs surged up from his throat and he burst out crying. Then everything went black.

Giovanni opened his eyes. He'd fallen asleep exhausted in the grass on the hill. His chest felt all hot and strange, and cold tears were trickling down his cheeks.

Giovanni sprung to his feet. The lights were still on in the village down below, but for some reason they seemed warmer. The Milky Way that he had just been traveling along only moments before in his dream, had the same cloudy white appearance as before; the area just above the pitch-black southern horizon was particularly hazy, the beautiful red star of Scorpius just to the right of it. In fact, the position of the stars hadn't seemed to have changed much at all.

Giovanni raced down the hill as fast as he could run. A lump rose in his throat as he thought of his mother still waiting for her milk. He raced through the black pine forest, following the pale white fence around and back to the poorly lit entrance of the dairy where he'd been earlier. It appeared as though someone had just come back; two barrels were stacked on top of a cart that wasn't previously there.

"Excuse me," yelled Giovanni.

"Yes?" said a man wearing a large white apron, appearing at the door. "What can I do for you?"

"We didn't get any milk today."

"Oh, sorry about that."

The man went inside and came back out with a bottle of milk which he handed to Giovanni.

"Really sorry about that," he repeated. "After lunch I accidentally left the gate to the calves open, and they got in with the cows and drank half the day's milk," said the man with a laugh.

"I see. Well, thank you."

"Yes, sorry for the trouble."

"Not at all," said Giovanni, wrapping his fingers around the still-warm bottle of milk and heading back out the farm gate.

He went down a road lined with trees and came out onto the main road. After continuing down this for some distance, he came to an intersection. On the right, by the edge of the road, was the large footbridge over the river, where Campanella and the others had gone to release their lanterns, the shadowy outline of its tall wooden frame visible against the night sky.

But standing in the vicinity of the intersection and in front of the shops were several groups of seven or eight women, speaking in hushed voices, their attention turned toward the bridge. Giovanni then saw that gathered on top of the bridge were a large number of people holding all kinds of lanterns.

Giovanni's heart froze. He turned to a group of people standing nearby.

"Did something happen?" he asked in a loud voice.

"A child fell in the water," replied one of them, after which the rest of the group also turned to look at him.

Giovanni ran frantically toward the bridge, but there were so many people on it, he couldn't see the water. There was a policeman standing there in white uniform.

Giovanni clambered down the foot of the bridge to the wide riverbank below.

Along the riverbank there were dozens of lanterns scurrying back and forth, and up and down the water's edge. A half-dozen lights could be seen moving up and down the bank on the other side as well. The grayish river, the raven gourd lanterns now gone, flowed quietly by, barely raising a murmur.

At the far end of the river bank, Giovanni could see the shadow of a large group of people gathered on a sandbank jutting into the river. As Giovanni ran down towards them, he suddenly came upon Marceau, who had been with Campanella earlier in the evening. Marceau raced up to Giovanni.

"Giovanni, Campanella went into the river."

"What happened? How long ago?"

"Zanelli was on the boat and he went to put the raven gourd lantern into the current, but when he bent down, the boat moved, and he fell into the water. Campanella dived straight in after him and pushed him back to the boat. Kato then pulled Zanelli out, but they lost sight of Campanella."

"But they are searching for him, right?"

"Yeah, people came right away; Campanella's dad too. But they can't find him. They took Zanelli home already."

Giovanni continued on to where the others were standing. Dressed in black, Campanella's dad stood tall, surrounded by students and other towns people, his pointy chin a pale-blue, his gaze fixed on the pocket watch he held in his right hand.

Everyone else had their eyes on the river. Not a word was spoken. Giovanni's legs were trembling with a nervous excitement. Dozens of acetylene lamps that were normally used for fishing at night, were busily moving backwards and forwards, their lights reflecting off the ripples spreading gently across the black river.

Further downstream the entire breadth of the river was filled with the reflection of the Milky Way, and it looked as if there was no water at all, only sky.

It was impossible for Giovanni to imagine that Campanella could be anywhere else but the far edge of that Milky Way.

But everyone else seemed to be waiting for Campanella to come up from between the waves and say something like, _Boy, that was a long swim._ Or perhaps they were hoping that he'd come up unseen on a sandbank somewhere and was standing around waiting for someone to come pick him up.

And then, with an air of finality, Campanella's dad said:

"It's no use. Forty five minutes have passed since he went in."

Giovanni rushed up to Campanella's dad without thinking. He wanted to say - _I know where Campanella is. I was just with him_ \- but the words got stuck in his throat, and nothing came out at all. For several moments the professor stared at Giovanni, thinking perhaps that he had come to pay his respects.

Then, speaking politely, he said,

"You are Giovanni, aren't you? It's very good of you to help."

Unable to find any words, Giovanni could only nod his head silently.

"Has your father returned yet?" asked the professor, still gripping his watch tightly.

"No," said Giovanni shaking his head slightly.

"I wonder what happened then. I got a letter from him only the day before yesterday. He sounded in very good spirits. He was due back around today. His boat must have been delayed. Giovanni, after class tomorrow, please come around to our house with the others."

Even before he'd finished speaking, the professor had turned his gaze downstream where the water's surface was covered in the reflection of the Milky Way.

With so many things racing through his mind, Giovanni walked silently away, and thinking that he had to hurry the milk to his mother and tell her the news about his dad coming home, he raced off along the river bank back towards town, as fast as his legs could carry him.

THE END
Glossary

(unless otherwise stated, explanations of constellations and plants courtesy of Wikipedia)

Chapter 2

1. _Raven gourd –_ ( _karasu-uri or kikarasu-uri_ ) (Return to story)

Karasu-uri is the common name in Japanese for Trichosanthes cucumeroides, a vine-like perennial plant that is a member of the gourd family, along with pumpkin, zucchini and cucumber. There is no English common name for this plant so the translator has chosen a suitable one (karasu = raven, crow; uri = gourd).

In parts of Iwate Prefecture, where Kenji lived, karasu-uri is also the name for Trichosanthes kirilowii (otherwise known as kikarasu-uri (literal translation = yellow raven gourd), which has a yellow fruit and is about 10cm in diameter.

The flowers of both plants are a whitish pale-blue, their petals only opening up after the sun goes down.

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Chapter 4

1. _Centaur Festival (constellation of Centaurus)-_ ( _kentauru-sai_ ) (Return to story)

Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. The name is derived from the mythical beast Centaur, which in Greek Mythology was a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.

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2. _Planisphere –_ (seiza-hayami) (Return to story)

A planisphere is an analog star chart in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date and is used to practice identifying the different stars and constellations.

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3. Star Safari Song - (hoshi-meguri no uta) (Return to story)

This song was written and composed by Kenji Miyazawa. It is also mentioned in the short story Twin Stars. The following is a tentative translation.

The eyes of the scorpion are red

The wings of the eagle are spread,

The eyes of the puppy are blue

The snake of light is coiled up tight

Orion is singing up high

Sending down dew and frost,

The clouds of Andromeda

Are in the shape of a fish's mouth

When the big bear extends its leg

For the fifth time to the north

Just above the forehead of the little bear

Is where our star safari heads

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Chapter 5

1. _Great Bear of the north (constellation of_ _Ursa Major_ _) –_ ( _Oguma-za_ ) (Return to story)

Ursa Major is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere and includes the widely recognized Big Dipper (or Plough). In Greek mythology, Zeus lusts after a young woman named Callisto, so Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, transforms her into a bear.

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2. _Weather wheel (monument)_ – (tenkirin (no hashira)) (Return to story)

A word coined by Kenji. One theory about the origins of the word proposes that it is derived from a stone pillar that stands at the Seiyou-in Temple in Morioka, Iwate, where Kenji stayed while attending Junior High School. The stone pillar is 1.8m in height with a steel wheel of diameter 30cm inserted toward the base and the characters _Namu Amida Butsu_ inscribed (see photo). This was referred to by people at the temple as a weather monument. In north-eastern Japan, weather monuments were often placed in temples, cemeteries and town boundaries and used to pray for good weather for crops and the salvation of departed souls.

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3. _Blue stars of Lyra (constellation of Lyra)_ \- (Koto-za) (Return to story)

The principal star of Lyra is Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky. Lyra is visible from the northern hemisphere from spring through autumn. From the southern hemisphere, it is visible low in the northern sky during the winter months. In Greek mythology, Lyra was associated with the myth of Orpheus. After Orpheus' death, Zeus sent an eagle to retrieve his lyre, and ordered both of them to be placed in the sky.

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Chapter 6

1. _Signal tower –_ ( _sankaku-hyo_ ) (Return to story)

Signals were used in surveying and illuminated by electric lights using cell batteries. Surveying is the science of accurately determining terrestrial points and distances and angles between them in the creation of maps etc. Triangulation surveys were often conducted at night using signal lights for greater accuracy.

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2. _Swan Station (constellation of Cygnus)_ – _(hakucho-za)_ (Return to story)

This constellation lies on the plane of the Milky Way. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, with a main feature being the Northern Cross. In Greek mythology, Cygnus has been identified with several different legendary swans. In one story Orpheus was transformed into a swan after his death and placed in the sky next to his lyre (Lyra).

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3. _(Chinese)_ _Silver grass_ ( _Miscanthus sinensis_ _) –_ ( _susuki_ ) (Return to story)

Miscanthus sinensis is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Asia, found throughout most of China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. It is a perennial grass, growing to 0.8–2 m (3–7 ft) tall, and forming dense clumps.

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Chapter 7

1. _Northern Cross -_ ( _kita-juji_ ) (Return to story)

An asterism contained in the constellation Cygnus

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2. _Tertiary Period_ (Return to story)

The Tertiary Period refers to a period from 65 million to 1.806 million years ago, but is a term that is no longer in use today.

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Chapter 9

1. _Albireo Observatory (Albireo (Beta Cygni)) –_ ( _hakucho_ _β_ _sei_ ) (Return to story)

Albireo is located at the very bottom of the Northern Cross. When viewed with the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, but is in fact a double star, consisting of Albireo A (amber), and Albireo B (blue-green). The two components provide one of the best contrasting double stars in the sky due to their different colors. It is not known whether the two components are orbiting around each other, but if they are, their orbital period would be at least 100,000 years.

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2. _Eagle Station (constellation of Aquila) –_ (washi-za) (Return to story)

Aquila is a constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and in Greek Mythology it represents the bird that carried Zeus' thunderbolts. Aquila lies just a few degrees north of the celestial equator.

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3. _Magpies/ bell lyre/ xylophone_ (Return to story)

Reference to Vega, the principle star of Lyra (represented by a lyre).

In Japan, Vega is represented by Tanabata, a celestial princess. She falls in love with a mortal, Kengyu, represented by the star Altair (the brightest star in the constellation Aquila). When Tanabata's father finds out, he is enraged and forbids them to meet and the two lovers are placed in the sky, where they are separated by the Celestial River. Each year, on the 7th night of the 7th moon, a bridge of magpies forms across the Celestial River, and the two lovers are reunited. Sometimes Kengyu's annual trip across the Celestial River is treacherous, though, and he doesn't make it. If it rains, the raindrops are thought to be Tanabata's tears because Kengyu could not meet her. Sometimes the meteors of the Perseid shower are said to be Tanabata's tears.

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4. _Peacocks (constellation of Pavo) -_ (kujaku-za) (Return to story)

Pavo is a constellation in the southern sky with the Latin name for peacock

In Greek mythology, the peacock was the sacred bird of Hera, who drove through the air in a chariot drawn by peacocks. One day, Zeus turned Io into a white cow to disguise her from his wife, Hera, who nearly caught them together. Hera was suspicious and put the heifer under the guardianship of Argus, who tethered the animal to an olive tree. Argus was ideally suited to the task of watchman, since he had 100 eyes, of which only two were resting at a time while the others kept a look out. Wherever Argus stood, he could always keep several of his eyes on Io. Zeus sent his son Hermes to release Io from her captivity. Hermes spent the day with Argus, telling him stories and playing his reed pipes until, one by one, the eyes of Argus became sleepy and began to close. When Argus was finally asleep, Hermes lopped off his head and released the heifer. Hera then placed the eyes of Argus on the tail of the peacock.

(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)

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5. _Colorado Plateau_ (Return to story)

The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic region within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona in the United States. The Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness and erosion. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, to which much of the Plateau's landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history

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6. _New World Symphony_ (Return to story)

Symphony No. 9, popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. Dvořák stated that he drew inspiration for the symphony from Native American and African-American spirituals that he heard in America.

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7. _Indian (constellation of Indus)_ – ( _Indian-za_ ) (Return to story)

Indus is a constellation in the southern sky and was not known to classical or early cultures. It was designated in the late sixteenth century and represents an Indian, a word that could refer at that time, to any native of Asia or the Americas.

The Indian is portrayed brandishing a spear as though hunting. It is not known if he is supposed to be a native of Madagascar, where the Dutch fleet stayed for several months on their way east and made many of their astronomical observations, or a native of the East Indies or southern Africa.

(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)

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8. Crane (constellation of Grus) \- (Tsuru-za) (Return to story)

Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. One of the 12 constellations introduced at the end of the 16th century by the Dutch navigators after their pioneer observations of the southern skies. Grus represents a long-necked wading bird, the crane.

(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)

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9. _Twin Stars_ (Return to story)

A reference to Kenji's own short story _Twin Stars_ , which is believed to be about the two stars Lambda Scorpii and Upsilon Scorpii which make up the sting in the constellation Scorpius. In the story the two twins live in a crystal palace, playing their flutes made of silver at night to the tune of the Star Safari song when everybody is looking up at them, and wandering playfully through the sky during the daytime when no one can see them.

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10. _Scorpion_ _(constellation of Scorpius)_ – (Sasori-za) (Return to story)

Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way. In Greek Mythology, Artemis sends a scorpion to fight with Orion. The pair battled and the scorpion defeated Orion. Later, Zeus raised the scorpion to heaven and afterwards, at the request of Artemis, did the same for Orion to serve as a reminder for mortals to curb their excessive pride.

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11. _Centaurus (Constellation of Centaurus)_ – ( _Kentaurusu-za_ ) (Return to story)

Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. The name is derived from the mythical beast Centaur, which in Greek Mythology was a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.

Night on the Milky Way Railway occurs on the night of the fictional Centaur Festival. The position of this constellation in the sky is close to the Southern Cross and the Coal Sack.

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12. _Southern Cross (constellation of Crux) –_ ( _Minami-juji-za_ ) (Return to story)

Crux is one of the smallest constellations, but is one of the most distinctive due to it featuring the Southern Cross asterism. Crux is easily visible from the southern hemisphere at practically any time of year. It is also visible near the horizon from tropical latitudes of the northern hemisphere for a few hours every night during the northern winter and spring.

Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus (which surrounds it on three sides) and Musca.

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13. _Coalsack (Coalsack Nebula)_ – ( _sekitan-bukuro_ ) (Return to story)

The Coalsack is the most prominent dark nebula (a type of interstellar cloud) in the skies, easily visible to the naked eye as a dark patch silhouetted against the southern Milky Way. The Coalsack is located in the constellation Crux (Southern Cross).

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The Cello Voice

When Kenji revised his manuscript for this story, he made a number of changes, including removing reference to a man who had a voice like a cello. This is a translation of all references to the Cello Man.

Cello Voice 1 (end of Chapter 5 & beginning of Chapter 6)

(Note that in the earlier version, it is the mushroom-like stars of Lyra that become the signal tower, not the weather wheel monument)

To Giovanni's great surprise, that pale-blue mushroom-shaped light suddenly took on the distinct shape of a signal tower and for several moments flashed on and off like a firefly, before finally coming to a complete standstill, standing upright in the dark steel-blue field in the sky. There it stood, upright, all on its own, in the field in the sky that was like a sheet of blue steel that has just emerged from a furnace.

"Wait a minute!" cried Giovanni to no one in particular. "How can that light turn into a signal tower that looks like it were made from chocolate?"

Just then, from a far, far distant place, as if from the midst of a vast fog came a deep voice that rumbled like a cello.

"Light is just one kind of energy. Candy and signal towers are different combinations of energy, and they've been combined in different ways. As long as such a law exists, then light can become candy. It's just that you've never been in a place with such rules before. The rules here are completely different."

Giovanni had a weird feeling that he kind of understood and didn't understand at the same time, as he continued staring at the signal tower.

Cello Voice 2 (beginning of Chapter 6)

That light truly became a single wide ribbon, and here and there, it began to branch out, growing brighter as it divided itself up, flowing further and further south, through the field in the sky.

That's water flowing over that sparkling sand, thought Giovanni.

Soon after came that voice like a cello once more.

"Water you say? Are you sure about that?"

Giovanni stood up on tippy toes to try and get a better view, but he couldn't make it out clearly.

"I don't know if it is water, or what it is, but it is definitely flowing," murmured Giovanni to himself. "It looks just as if it were the wind. It is so clear; and so light."

Cello Voice 3 (toward the end of Chapter 6)

"I wonder if it runs on alcohol or electricity?" said Campanella.

Then, from a far, far distant place, as if from the midst of a vast fog came a deep voice that rumbled like a cello.

"This train doesn't run on steam or electricity. It simply moves because it is in its nature to do so. To you, it seems as if it makes a rattling sound like a train; but that is only because you are used to hearing trains that make that noise."

"I've heard that voice somewhere, many times before."

"Me too. I've heard it often in the forest and down by the river."

Cello Voice 4 (middle of Chapter 9)

"Look, there are peacocks there. I can see peacocks!"

"Oh that forest must be Lyra. I'm sure that in that forest, there must be lots of musicians in a really big orchestra, ever since ancient times. All around it I can see blue peacocks."

Just then, far downstream, Giovanni caught a glimpse of something very strange. What he saw was black and shiny, and long and thin, and it was leaping out from the invisible water of the Celestial River, moving forward in the shape of an archer's bow, and then hiding itself back in the water. How strange, thought Giovanni, but now he noticed that it was happening right in front of him too. And before long, the river was filled with the sight of this strange looking, shiny black creature, leaping from the water, flying through the air like a ball, and then diving back into the water head first. They all seemed to be swimming up river like so many fish.

"Wow, what is that? Tadashi, look at this. There's so many of them. What do you think they are?"

The little boy who was rubbing sleepily at his eyes, suddenly leapt out of his seat to get a better view.

"What is that?" said the young man, also getting out of his seat.

"It's a strange fish, I wonder what it is?"

"It's a dolphin," said Campanella.

"Oh, it's the first time for me to see a dolphin," said Kaoru. "But this isn't the ocean."

Then came that strange deep voice once again: "The dolphin doesn't only live in the ocean."

The strangest thing about these dolphins was the shape they made when they leapt out of the water; placing both pectoral fins down by their side, as if standing to attention, and then lowering their head as if bowing deferentially, before diving back into the water with the same rigid posture. Each time, the invisible water of the Celestial River rocked back and forward, sending up waves of blue fire.

"Is the dolphin a type of fish?" asked Kaoru to Campanella. Her little brother was slumped exhausted in his seat asleep.

"No, it's not a fish. It's a mammal, like the whale," replied Campanella.

"Have you seen a whale before?"

"Yes. I could only see its head, and its black tail. When it spouted water, it was just like you see in books."

"A whale must be very big."

"Yes they are very big. Even a baby whale is as big as a dolphin."

"I remember now; I saw one in 1001 Arabian Nights!" said Kaoru excitedly, as she fiddled with the silver ring on her finger.

Campanella, I want to get out here! I've never seen a whale, Campanella

Giovanni was feeling so frustrated, but he bit down hard on his lip, staring resolutely out the window. There was no longer any sign of the dolphins, and just there, the river divided into two.

_Dolphin (constellation of Delphinus)_ – _(Iruka-za)_

Delphinus is a constellation in the northern sky, close to the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for dolphin.

According to Greek mythology, Poseidon wanted to marry Amphitrite and sent out several searchers for her, among them a certain Delphinus. Delphinus was able to persuade Amphitrite to accept Poseidon's wooing. Out of gratitude the god placed the image of a dolphin among the stars.

Cello Voice 5 (end of Chapter 9)

Then everything went black. And then from behind, Giovanni heard that voice again; that voice like a gentle cello:

"Why the tears? Look at me for a minute."

Startled, Giovanni wiped away his tears and took a look behind. Where Campanella had been sitting there was now a kind-looking man wearing a large black hat, a gentle smile on his pale-colored face, a large book on his lap.

"No doubt you are wondering where your friend has gone. Tonight, he has gone a long way away. There is no use searching for Campanella now."

"Ah, but why? Me and Campanella were saying that we would go on together, and we'd never turn back."

"Ah, yes. Everybody thinks that way. But you can't go together. And now, for you, everybody is Campanella. Every person you meet from now, they have shared apples with you, and they have ridden together with you on this train, many many times. That's why, just like you were thinking before, you need to search for what it is that would bring people the greatest happiness, and go as soon as you can to where that is. And only when you are there, you will be able to truly travel together with Campanella forever."

"Then that is what I will do. But how do I go about finding that place?"

"Ah, I am searching for it myself. Hold on tightly to that ticket of yours. And you need to study with all your heart. I'm sure you've studied chemistry, and so you will know that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. There's nobody around today that would doubt the truth of that. That's because you can prove it by doing an experiment. But looking back through history, we see that some people once thought water was made from mercury and salt, while others thought it was made from mercury and sulfur.

Every person believes that their God is the only true God, but the actions of people believing in their different Gods has caused much heartache. So then you can debate, are our hearts right or wrong. There can never be a winner.

But if you do your research, and you conduct your experiments so that you can clearly tell the difference between real principles and false principles, then as long as you can establish a method for conducting that experiment, then there will be no difference between your principles and those of science.

But first, take a look at this book here; it's an encyclopedia of geography and history. On this page here, you see, is written the geography and history of 2,200 BC. Look carefully, it doesn't show what it was like in 2,200 BC; it shows the geography and history that people thought was true in 2,200 BC.

This one page is the same as a whole book on the history of geography. And you see, most of the things that are written here were true in the year 2,200BC. If you search for it, you'll find there is plenty of proof to back it up. But then someone thinks, hmm, something doesn't sound right; how about this? Which is what you have on the next page.

This is 1,000 BC. Most of the geography and the history has changed, hasn't it? Now it is like this. You mustn't think it strange.

It is the same, whether it be our bodies, our principles, the Celestial River, or a train; it's what we feel that matters.

Here, meditate a moment with me. Are you ready?"

The cello man lifted up a finger, and then quietly brought it down. Suddenly Giovanni saw himself, his thoughts, the train, that professor, the Celestial River, everything, light up for an instant and then disappear without a sound, and then light up once more, and disappear once again; and each time everything was lit up, an entire world, completely bare, would open out before him, be filled with its entire history, and then suddenly vanish again, with everything bare again, and then nothing.

This happened faster and faster, and then everything went back to what it was.

"Now do you see? So that means your experiment has to cover everything, from the beginning to the end of all of these fragmentary principles. That is very difficult. But it is also fine if you do it for that time alone.

Look, over there you can see Pleiades. It is up to you to break the chains of Pleiades.

Just then, a pale-blue flare rose up from the distant pitch black horizon, lighting up everything as if it were the middle of the day, including the inside of the train. The flare continued to shine as it traveled high into the sky.

"It's the Magellanic Clouds. I will do it then; for me, for my mother, for Campanella, for everyone, I will search for real, true happiness."

Biting down on his lip, Giovanni got to his feet, his eyes on the Magellanic Clouds.

"Make sure you hold on tightly to your ticket. You must continue to walk with big strides, without deviating from your course; no longer on this dream railway, but through the fire storms and rough seas of the real world. There is only one ticket in the whole of the Celestial River, so you mustn't lose it, whatever you do."

After the man with the cello voice spoke these words, Giovanni could feel the Celestial River fade far far into the distance, and he could see that he was now standing up straight on top of the grass hill, and he could hear the footsteps of Dr. Brucanero quietly approaching.

"Thank you. I was able to conduct an excellent experiment I wanted to conduct an experiment to see if I could convey my thoughts to another person from a distance in a quiet place like this. I took down all the things that you said in my notebook. Go home now and rest. You should continue moving forward, without turning back, just as you made up your mind to do in your dream. And from now on, anytime you have any problems, please come and see me."

"I will continue, and I won't turn back. And I will search for true happiness," said Giovanni resolutely.

"Goodbye then. This is your ticket from before."

The professor put a green piece of paper, folded up into a small square, into Giovanni's pocket. And soon he was out of sight on the other side of the weather wheel monument.

Giovanni raced straight down the hill.

But he soon noticed that something heavy was clinking together in his pocket. In the middle of the forest he stopped running to take a look, and, wrapped inside that same strange green ticket to heaven he'd seen in his dream, were two coins.

"Thank you Professor. Mum, I am bringing you your milk," called out Giovanni, and he raced off again.

So many thoughts were racing through Giovanni's mind at once, and he was overcome by a feeling of terrible sadness, but he also had the feeling that something new was beginning.

The stars of Lyra were now far in the west, and were once again stretching out their legs as they had in his dream.

(Nb: In the earlier version, the dairy had no milk left, and so if Giovanni was to bring milk to his mother, he needed money to buy it from somewhere else. That is why he is so happy to have received money from the professor.)

Pleiades (Seven Sisters) – (Pureadesu-seidan (Subaru))

The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster. It is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.

In the Bible in Job 38:31, the Lord is speaking directly to Job and challenges him, asking if he can bind the chains of the Pleiades—the implication being that Job cannot, but the Lord can.

_Magellanic Clouds –_ ( _mazeran-un_ )

The two Magellanic Clouds (Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud) are irregular dwarf galaxies visible from the southern hemisphere that may be orbiting our Milky Way galaxy.
The Story of the Scorpion (from the middle of Chapter 9)

Long, long ago, there was a scorpion that lived in the fields of Badrah, who killed and ate all kinds of small bugs and insects. Then one day a weasel found it and tried to eat it. The scorpion tried to escape and ran and ran and ran, but it couldn't get away from the weasel, and just as the weasel was going to catch it, it fell down into a well. And as hard as it tried, it couldn't get back out again, and it started to drown. So the scorpion began to pray.

Ah, how many lives have I taken up until now? And yet, when the weasel tries to catch me, look how I run for my life. And in the end this is how I end up. Oh, what have I done? Why didn't I just offer my body to the weasel without running away? I could have given the weasel another day of life.

Dear God, please look into my heart. Instead of allowing me to throw my life away in vain, use my body to bring true happiness to the world.

And when the scorpion opened its eyes again, it saw that its body was burning with a bright red flame, lighting up the entire night sky.
Star Safari Song

The eyes of the scorpion are red

The wings of the eagle are spread,

The eyes of the puppy are blue

The snake of light is coiled up tight

Orion is singing up high

Sending down dew and frost,

The clouds of Andromeda

Are in the shape of a fish's mouth

When big bear extends his leg

For the fifth time to the north

Just above the forehead of little bear

Is where our star safari heads
Celestial River

(included in the earlier versions of Night on the Milky Way Railway)

Oh Celestial River

I can see the sand on your bottom

I can see your bed of stones

But no matter how hard I look

I can't see any water

Bonus Story

Gon the Fox

by Nankichi Niimi

About **Nankichi Niimi**

**Nankichi Niimi** was born Shohachi Watanabe in what is now Handa City, Aichi Prefecture, on July 30, 1913, with the year 2013 marking 100 years since his birth. Gon the Fox is studied by every Japanese child in elementary school and it was recently estimated that over 60 million people have read this story, which he wrote at just 18 years of age. Although Niimi went on to write a large number of poems and short stories, such as _Buying Mittens, Grandpa's Lamp_ and _When the Thieves Came to Hananoki Village_ before his death from tuberculosis at age 29, _Gon the Fox_ is undoubtedly the most famous and well-loved of all his works, and perhaps the most famous Japanese children's story of all time.

Chapter 1

An old man by the name of Mohei who lived in my village, told me this story when I was little.

A long time ago, not far from our village, there was a place called Nakayama, which had a small castle and a lord, also by the name of Nakayama. And in the hills a short distance from Nakayama, there lived a fox called Gon, who'd made his home in a hole he'd dug in a forest overgrown with lush green ferns. Gon the fox was always going into the nearby village to cause mischief, any time of the day or night. He'd make all sorts of trouble, digging up potatoes and tossing them all over the ground, setting fire to bundles of rapeseed flowers hung out to dry, or stealing chili peppers strung up outside the back of the farmer's houses.

One autumn, it had been raining non-stop for two or three days and Gon had been crouched in his hole, unable to go outside. When at last the rain cleared, Gon breathed a sigh of relief and crawled out of his hole. Outside there was a bright blue sky and the cries of the Bull-headed Shrikes rang through the air.

Gon walked up to the edge of the small stream that ran through the village. Drops of rain, still clinging to the tops of the pampas grass, glistened in the sun. Normally there was very little water in this stream, but after three full days of rain the water level had risen all at once. Pampas grass and clumps of bush clover, normally well away from the water's edge, were sloshing about in the murky water. Gon walked further downstream along the muddy path.

Suddenly he noticed a person standing in the middle of the river. He quickly crept into the long grass, where he could watch without being seen.

That's Hyoju, thought Gon.

Hyoju was standing waist deep in the stream with a hand towel tied around his head. He'd rolled up the sleeves of his ragged black kimono and was dragging a fishing net back and forth through the water. A clump of bush clover was stuck to the side of his face like a mole.

After a while, Hyoju hoisted the end of his fishing net - which was in the shape of a bag - out of the water. It was filled with grass roots, weeds, rotten sticks and other rubbish, but there was something else as well; something white and shiny. They were the stomachs of a big fat eel and some large whiting. Hyoju tipped the eel and the whiting together with all the other rubbish, into his wicker fishing basket. He then closed off the opening of the net and placed it back in the water.

With that done, he waded out of the water with his basket, placed it on the ground, and wandered upstream as if in search of something.

As soon as Hyoju was out of sight, Gon sprang out from his hiding spot and raced up to the basket. Gon, you see, was in the mood for a little mischief. He picked out the fish from the wicker basket and, aiming downstream from the fishing net, he flung them, one at a time, back into the stream. Each of the fish landed with a plonk, quickly diving beneath the murky water.

To finish, he tried picking up the big eel, but the eel was all slimy and kept slipping through his paws. Losing patience, he thrust his head into the basket and grabbed the head of the eel between his teeth. The eel gave out a sharp shriek and wrapped itself around Gon's neck. Just then, Hyoju yelled out from a distance,

"Hey! You thieving fox!" Gon jumped into the air with a fright. He tried flinging the eel away so he could make his escape, but the eel was tightly wrapped around his neck. He leapt sideways, eel and all, and raced off as fast as he could run.

He didn't dare look back until he was at the alder tree near his home, but by that time, Hyoju was nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then bit down on the head of the eel to make it let go, before placing it on the grass outside his home.
Chapter 2

About ten days later, as Gon was passing behind Yasuke the farmer's house, Yasuke's wife was standing in the shade of a fig tree, dying her teeth black. And when he passed Shinbei the blacksmith's house, Shinbei's wife was busy combing her hair.

Ha ha thought Gon, there must be something going on in the village today. I wonder what? Maybe an autumn festival... nah, if there was a festival I'd be able to hear drums and flutes. And there'd be lots of banners out the front of the shrine.

While he was busy thinking, Gon came up to Hyoju's house, which had a small red well out the front. Hyoju's tiny run-down house was filled with people. Several women, with hand towels tucked in the back of their formal kimonos, were tending to a fire beneath the cooking stove. A giant pot was bubbling away on top.

Ah ha, it's a funeral, thought Gon. One of Hyoju's relatives must have died.

After midday, Gon went to the cemetery and hid in the shadows of the six Jizo statues. It was a perfect clear day and the tiles on the roof of the castle could be seen sparkling in the sun, far off in the distance. Inside the cemetery, the red spider lilies were in full bloom, covering the ground like a giant red cloth. Gong! Gong! - the sound of a bell rang out from the village, the signal for the funeral procession to depart.

Shortly afterwards, some members of the procession, dressed in white kimonos, trickled into view. The sound of people talking moved closer and closer. The procession entered the cemetery. The red spider lilies were trampled beneath their feet as they passed.

Gon stood on tippy-toe so that he could see. Hyoju was wearing a formal kimono and holding a memorial tablet. Normally so cheerful with a face like a red sweet potato, today he looked miserable.

Ahh, it must have been Hyoju's mum, realized Gon, and pulled his head back in.

That night Gon was thinking to himself inside his hole.

I bet Hyoju's mum had been sick in bed, saying she wanted to eat some eel and that was why Hyoju was out fishing. But then I went and played a prank on him and took off with his eel so he never got a chance to give his mum any before she died. I bet all she could think about when she was dying was how much she'd like to eat some eel. Darn! I wish I hadn't played such a stupid prank!
Chapter 3

Hyoju was washing some wheat by the red well. Up until now Hyoju had lived together with his mother with very little money, but now his mother had died he was all by himself.

He's all alone, just like me, thought Gon, as he watched Hyoju from behind a nearby storeroom.

As he walked away from the storeroom, Gon heard the cry of the sardine man going door to door.

"Cheap sardines for sale! Get your fresh sardines!"

Gon ran toward the sound of the man's booming voice. Just then, Yasuke's wife appeared at the back entrance and called out,

"I'll have some sardines please."

The sardine man stopped his cart by the side of the road, grabbed two handfuls of shiny sardines and carried them into Yasuke's house. Seizing his chance, Gon raced up and grabbed five or six sardines out of the basket and then raced back the way he came. When he got to Hyoju's house he tossed them through the back door, and then quickly ran back in the direction of his home. He turned around when he reached the top of the nearest hill and was just able to make out Hyoju, still washing his wheat beside the well.

Well at least I've done one good thing to make up for the eel, he thought.

The next day Gon collected an armful of chestnuts from the forest, and carried them to Hyoju's house. When Gon peaked in through the back door, he saw Hyoju staring blankly into space, his bowl in his hands with his lunch half-eaten. Strangely, he had a gash across his cheek. Gon was wondering what could have happened when Hyoju mumbled out loud,

"Who on earth threw those sardines into my house? Thanks to them people think I'm a thief and the sardine man tries to knock my head in."

Uh oh, thought Gon. Poor Hyoju got beaten up and left with that big gash on his face.

As he was thinking this, Gon crept quietly round to the storeroom and left the chestnuts by the doorway.

Gon collected chestnuts and took them to Hyoju's house the next day too, and then the next day after that. The day after that, not only did he take chestnuts, but two or three matsutake mushrooms as well.
Chapter 4

One evening when the moon was shining bright, Gon was walking aimlessly in the forest. After passing beneath Nakayama Castle, he suddenly noticed some people walking the other way down the narrow path. He heard the sound of people talking. Chin-chira-ling, chin-chira-ling sang the pine crickets.

Gon hid perfectly still by the side of the road. Their voices moved closer and closer. It was Hyoju and Kasuke the farmer.

"Oh yeah, Kasuke," said Hyoju.

"Yeah?"

"Something really strange has been going on recently."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know who, but ever since mother died, someone's been bringing me chestnuts and mushrooms every day."

"Yeah!? Who?"

"That's what I told you, I don't know. They always bring them when I'm not around."

After they'd passed, Gon started following behind them.

"Truly?"

"Yeah, truly! If you think I'm lying, come 'round tomorrow and see for yourself. I'll show you the chestnuts."

"Huh, that's weird."

They continued walking in silence.

Suddenly, Kasuke turned around behind him. Gon froze to the spot, trying to make himself as small as possible. Not noticing anything, Kasuke hurried on ahead. After reaching the house of Kichibei, another farmer, the two headed inside. Pon-pon-pon-pon came the sound of a wooden gong. A light shone through the paper sliding window, the outline of a priest's shaven head moving across it.

They must be praying, thought Gon, as he crouched down beside a well. Not long after, another group of three arrived and went inside. Afterwards there came the sound of someone reading a Buddhist sutra.

Chapter 5

Gon stayed crouched down by the well until they'd finished praying. Hyoju and Kasuke headed off home again. Gon followed close behind in Hyoju's shadow so he could listen to their conversation.

When they came to the castle, Kasuke said,

"What you were talking about before, I think it must be God."

"Huh?" muttered Hyoju in surprise, looking over at Kasuke.

"I was thinking about it the whole time, and well, I don't think it's a person... it's God. God's taken pity on you because you are all alone, so he brings you these things."

"I don't know about that."

"I'm sure it is. You should say a prayer to God every day, to thank Him."

"Right."

Huh, that's not fair, thought Gon. I'm the one taking him chestnuts and mushrooms everyday, but instead of thanking me he goes and thanks God. What's the point!?
Chapter 6

Gon took chestnuts to Hyoju's house the next day as well. Hyoju was in the storeroom making some rope. Gon crept quietly into the house through the back door. Just then Hyoju happened to look up.

Was that a fox going into my house? That rotten fox Gon that stole my eel that day, he's up to no good again.

"Right."

Hyoju stood up, went across and grabbed his rifle off the wall and loaded it with gunpowder. He then crept quietly up to the back door, and just as Gon was coming out again - Bang! - he shot him. Gon flopped to the ground.

Hyoju ran up to Gon, but then, glancing inside the house, his gaze fell on the chestnuts lying on the floor.

"Huh!" exclaimed Hyoju in surprise, looking down at Gon.

"Gon, was it you? Are you the one who's been bringing me chestnuts?"

Gon nodded, his eyes clenched tight.

The rifle fell from Hyoju's hands, landing with a thud, a thin trail of blue smoke still rising from the barrel.

THE END

About Little J Books

Hi, my name is Paul and I started Little J Books because I personally wanted to be able to read more of these kinds of Japanese stories in English, especially in ebook form. By putting these stories into an ebook format they will be available for anyone to access anywhere in the world, forever. That last word is key, because quite often translators do an incredible job of translating a book into English, but after it gets published and sells out, it's gone. But now with ebooks and publishing on demand (POD) that is changing. So thank you so much for choosing to read this book, and if you would like to get involved somehow please send me an email at mailto:info@littlejbooks.com.

Other stories by Kenji Miyazawa

Ame-ni-mo Makezu

Perhaps the most famous Japanese poem of the modern age, it was written by Kenji while lying on his death bed and was never seen by anyone else until after his death. This significance of this poem has increased greatly for the Japanese people following the Great East Japan Earthquake, with many people using it to reflect on what truly is important in their lives.

Kenju's Forest Playground

Kenju is different from other kids his age, and he gets teased a lot. But Kenju can see things all around that others can't. One day, completely out-of-the-blue, he decides to plant seven hundred cedar trees, and those trees become something that no one ever imagined.

Gauche the Cellist

Gauche is a hopeless musician and he's always being yelled at by the conductor. It's not because he doesn't try, it's just that there is something lacking in his music. With a big concert approaching, Gauche receives some special music lessons from his closest neighbors.

The Nighthawk Star

The nighthawk has a hard time of it. He's got a face like a mud pie, he gets teased by all the other birds and he has to put up with bullies. Hans Christian Andersen was a great inspiration to Kenji and you will recognize something of the Ugly Duckling in this story, but the setting and the finale is classical Kenji, making this story a standout favorite amongst many Japanese readers.

Wild Pear (Yamanashi)

A surreal tale about a family of crabs on the bottom of the river. The amazing descriptions of life under the water will leave you with a truly new perspective on the world. An extremely well-crafted fable, with a profound underlying message.

The Restaurant of Many Orders

This is perhaps the most famous of Kenji's short stories and one of his personal favorites, as it was the title story of his one and only self-published collection of short stories. Two hunters go on a hunting trip in the country and end up completely lost. Luckily they come across what appears to be an extremely popular restaurant...but everything is not as it seems
Other stories by Nankichi Niimi

Buying Mittens

Mama fox only wants the best for her little one, so when the cold winter arrives and her precious boy needs some mittens, then she knows what she must do. The only problem is that she is afraid and her legs won't take her any further. So her son must go on his own. The highlight of this delightful children's story is the beautiful description of the foxes' journey through the snow covered woods during the middle of the night.

The Story of the Giant

All of the town's people are terrified of the giant because he is enormous and he is the son of that horrible old witch. But is it possible that they may have misjudged him?

Grandpa's Lamp

Minosuke was born a poor orphan, but with a little luck and a lot of hard work he manages to carve out a business of his own and starts to rise up in the world. One day a competitor arrives that threatens to take it all away from him. A fascinating insight into the period of transition in Japan, from a country in darkness to one bathed in light.

When the Thieves Came to Hananoki Village

What could be a better hunting ground for a thief than a village where people don't even bother with proper locks? The only trouble is that these thieves have no idea what they are doing, and it is up to the boss to train them. But just when the boss appears to have made a wonderful score, the story takes an unexpected turn.

