572
A short pause. “It might be hard to find the right way to express what I think about
it.”
“No, don’t worry about expression. What’s important are the most obvious
characteristics.”
“You want me to look at the moon and tell you what I think are the most obvious
characteristics?”
“That’s right,” Tengo replied. “If nothing strikes you, then that’s fine.”
“It’s overcast today, so I don’t think you can see the moon, but when it clears up
I’ll take a look. If I remember.”
Tengo thanked him and hung up.
If he remembers
. This was one of the problems
with math department graduates. When it came to areas they weren’t interested in,
their memory was surprisingly short-lived.
When visiting hours were over and Tengo was leaving the sanatorium he said good-
bye to Nurse Tamura, the nurse at the reception desk. “Thank you. Good night,” he
said.
“How many more days will you be here?” she asked, pressing the bridge of her
glasses on her nose. She seemed to have finished her shift, because she had changed
from her uniform into a pleated dark purple skirt, a white blouse, and a gray cardigan.
Tengo came to a halt and thought for a minute. “I’m not sure. It depends on how
things go.”
“Can you still take time off from your job?”
“I asked somebody to teach my classes for me, so I should be okay for a while.”
“Where do you usually eat?” the nurse asked.
“At a restaurant in town,” he replied. “They only provide breakfast at the inn so I
go someplace nearby and eat their set meal, or a rice bowl, that sort of thing.”
“Is it good?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Though I don’t really notice what it tastes like.”
“That won’t do,” the nurse said, looking displeased. “You have to eat more
nutritious food. I mean, look—these days your face reminds me of a horse sleeping
standing up.”
“A horse sleeping standing up?” Tengo asked, surprised.
“Horses sleep standing up. You’ve never seen that?”
Tengo shook his head. “No, I never have.”
“Their faces look like yours,” the middle-aged nurse said. “Go check out your face
in the mirror. At first glance you can’t tell they’re asleep, but if you look closely you
will see that their eyes are open, but they aren’t seeing anything.”
“Horses sleep with their eyes open?”
The nurse nodded deeply. “Just like you.”
For a moment Tengo did think about going to the bathroom and looking at himself
in the mirror, but he decided against it. “I understand. I’ll try to eat better from now
on.”
“Would you care to go out to get some
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