70
Eminent Authors of Japan
What was his calling?
- Asa.—A coolie, like myself.
- Koyama.—Residence,—the place where you live?
- Asa.—Shimo-Meguro.
- Koyama.—Shimo-Meguro in the village of Meguro, the county of Ebara, in a suburb of Tokyo. Yes—What is the number of your house?
- Asa.—Number 2-3-5-7.
- Koyama.—Number 2-3-5-7. Have you this house to yourself, or have you other people living with you?
- Asa.—We live alone.
- Koyama.—And when was the baby born?
- Asa.—On the tenth day of the month before last.
- Koyama.—That was the tenth of February. Was it a boy?
- Asa.—Yes.
- Koyama.—And the day on which you killed it?
- Asa.—(With a woeful expression) It was on the night of the day before yesterday.
- Koyama.—How did you kill it?
- Asa.—It happened that I was on the way home from my work, just as I am today. I was walking near Gyoninzaka, and the baby began to cry. It cried and cried, as if it were being burnt. I wanted to give it milk but I couldn’t. I did not know what to do.
- Koyama.—Why couldn’t you give it any milk?
- Asa.—Because I hadn’t any to give. Perhaps the food I had been having was too poor. I had been unable to nurse my child for some days before that.
