Kiyoko, a dancer
Dealer in Antiques
Superintendent of Apartment House
Men A, C, E
Women B, D
A room in what is in fact a secondhand furniture shop, though it is so filled with antiques - both Oriental and Occidental - that it might more properly be called a museum. In the centre, a little to stage left, an immense wardrobe hulks like a ghostly apparition - big enough, one might suppose, to swallow up the whole world. The outline of a bell is carved into the huge doors, and the wardrobe itself is covered with a profusion of baroque ornamentation. Not surprisingly, the other objects in the shop are quite eclipsed by such a prodigy; they may therefore be represented merely on a backdrop.
Five chairs are placed here and there on the stage. On each sits a prosperous-looking man or woman who is listening to the DEALER
describing the wardrobe before which he stands. These five distinguished clients have come to today's auction by invitation.
DEALER: Would you kindly look this way ? We have here an item absolutely unique in East or West, in ancient or modern times, a wardrobe which transcends all normal practical use. The objects which we offer here are without exception the creations of artists who despised base considerations of utility, and their significance comes from the fact that you, ladies and gentlemen, are able to turn them to practical use. The average person is satisfied with standardized merchandise. When he buys a piece of furniture, it is just the same as when he buys a pet - he invariably 128
chooses one which suits his social position and which is perfectly familiar. This accounts for his taste in mass-produced tables and chairs, in television sets, and in electric washing machines.
You ladies and gentlemen, on the other hand, with your refined sensibilities and your aloofness from popular tastes, would not, I am sure, deign even to glance at a household pet -1 daresay you would infinitely prefer to buy a wild beast. You have before you an article utterly beyond the average man's comprehension, an article which, were it not for the elegance and boldness of your tastes, could never be appreciated. [He points at the wardrobe.] Here, indeed, is the wild beast to which I referred.
MAN A : What's it made of?
DEALER: Pardon me!
MAN A: What kind of wood is it?
DEALER [knocking on the wardrobe]: The genuine and indisputable
- you can tell by the sound - the genuine and indisputable ma-hogany - Please excuse the abruptness of the question, but just for my information, could you kindly tell me approximately how many suits of clothes you own ?
MAN A: One hundred and fifty.
WOMAN B: Three hundred .. . oh, perhaps three hundred and seventy.
MAN C: I've never counted.
WOMAN D: Three hundred and seventy-one.
MAN E: Seven hundred.
DEALER: It doesn't surprise me. I am not surprised to hear even such figures. But whether you have seven hundred suits or a thousand, they'll all fit into this wardrobe without the least difficulty. If you will kindly look inside [he himself glances in briefly], you will observe the amazing capacity. It's not quite a tennis court, but it's certainly large enough for knocking-up exercises. It is lined on all four sides with mirrors, and there is also an electric light inside. You may go in, select the costume you desire, and attire yourself, all without leaving the wardrobe.
Step up please, don't be bashful. Yes, look right in. Everyone will have a turn, no pushing, please. One line, if you please. 129
[The five clients form a line and one after another look inside the wardrobe.]
MAN A [nothing surprises him; turns to proprietor after looking]: Whose is it?
DEALER: Pardon me!
MAN A: I mean, where did you get it?
DEALER: I am not at liberty to disclose more than that it comes from a certain private collection. A very important family, before the war a family of the kind you could count on the fingers of one hand. Of late it has rather - we all know many such examples, don't we ? - yes, there are quite a few such cases, and it's certainly a great shame - but this family has gone down a bit in the world, and they've been obliged...
MAN A: I see. You needn't say any more. [He returns to his seat.]
WOMAN B [looks inside and shrieks]: Good heavens! You could put a double bed inside!
DEALER: Yes, you're quite right. A double bed - very aptly put.
MAN c [looks inside]: It looks like my family crypt. I could easily put a hundred, maybe two hundred, urns in here.
DEALER [with an expression of distaste]: Very amusing.
WOMAN D [looking in]: What's the key for?
DEALER: The key? You can lock the wardrobe from the outside or the inside, whichever you please.
WOMAN D: From the inside?
DEALER [flustered]: I don't know why it was made that way, but there you have it.
WOMAN D: Why should anyone want to lock it from the inside?
DEALER: Well - er .. . [He smiles meaningfully.] I'm sure there must be some way of making use of it. After all, it's big enough to put a bed inside.
MAN E [looking in]: Hmm. Surprisingly small, isn't it?
DEALER: Small?
MAN E: Surprisingly.
DEALER: DO you think so, sir? Everyone has his own way of looking at things, I'm sure. [They settle themselves in their chairs again with a great rustling and shuffling.] Well, then, ladies and gentlemen, now you've seen it. I hate to hurry you, but I propose to offer it now at auction. What am I bid for it ? Speak up please.
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Anyone, please. [They are all silent.] Come, come, does no one wish to bid for it?
MAN A: Fifty thousand yen.
DEALER: I have fifty thousand yen.
WOMAN B: Fifty-one thousand yen.
DEALER: The lady bids fifty-one thousand yen.
MAN C: One hundred thousand yen.
DEALER: One hundred thousand yen here.
WOMAN D: One hundred and fifty thousand yen.
DEALER: I'm bid one hundred and fifty thousand yen.
MAN E: One hundred and eighty thousand yen.
DEALER: Yes, one hundred and eighty thousand yen.
VOICE [a woman's voice from stage right]: Three thousand yen.
[They all turn round.]
M AN A : Three thousand five hundred yen.
DEALER: The bid is three thousand five hundred yen. Eh? What was that ? I'm afraid you must have heard wrong, sir. The bid stood at one hundred and eighty thousand yen. The last bid was one hundred and eighty thousand yen.
MAN A: All right. One hundred and ninety thousand yen.
DEALER: I have one hundred and ninety thousand yen.
MAN C: Two hundred and fifty thousand yen.
DEALER: Two hundred and fifty thousand yen is the bid.
MAN E: Three hundred thousand yen.
DEALER: Three hundred thousand yen it is.
WOMAN B: Three hundred and fifty thousand yen.
WOMAN D: Three hundred and sixty thousand yen.
WOMAN B [annoyed]: Really! Five hundred thousand yen.
WOMAN D: Five hundred and ten thousand yen.
WOMAN B: Again! One million yen.
WOMAN D: One million ten thousand yen.
WOMAN B: This is going too far. Two million yen.
WOMAN D: Two million ten thousand yen.
WOMAN B; If that isn't impudence! Three million yen.
WOMAN D: Three million ten thousand yen.
WOMAN B: Ohhh -
VOICE [the same woman's voice, from stage right]: Three thousand yen. Three thousand yen.
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[They all look to right with various exclamations of surprise.
A beautiful young woman quietly enters. She is KIYOKO, a dancer.]
DEALER: Who are you? I've had quite enough of your peculiar sense of humour. Of all times! Really, you're carrying foolish?-
ness a bit too far. Who are you anyway?
KIYOKO: You'd like to know my name? I'm Kiyoko. I'm a dancer.
[MEN A, c, and E look at her with considerable interest.']
DEALER : A dancer! I don't remember having asked you here. This sale is restricted to invited customers. Didn't you see the sign at the door 'By Invitation Only' ?
KIYOKO: The sign was twisted over by the wind. Anyway, I have qualifications to be here, even if I'm not invited.
DEALER : Just listen to her talk! - Come, leave at once. I'll let you off this time without taking you to the police.
M AN A : Why not let her stay ? She must have some good reason for being here. Don't shout at her that way.
DEALER: I know, sir, but...
MAN A: What's your business here, young lady?
KIYOKO: I'm not a young lady. I'm only a dancer.
MAN c: That's fine. A dancer, she says.
MAN E: A dancer - an admirable profession. Bringing comfort to to us all, a blessing money can't buy.
WOMAN B : What do you mean by offering three thousand yen?
WOMAN D: Three thousand and one yen.
WOMAN B: Of all the infuriating people! [To KIYOKO, in honeyed tones] You said your name was Kiyoko, didn't you? What did you mean by offering three thousand yen? Do come here and talk to us.
KIYOKO: Three thousand yen .. . [She goes to the centre.] Three thousand yen is all that wardrobe is worth.
DEALER [in consternation]: See here. Any more foolish talk like that, and it's off to the police with you.
MAN A [to DEALER] : Listen quietly to what she has to say.
[DEALER is silent.]
KIYOKO: Once you've heard the history of this enormous, strange wardrobe, I don't think any of you will want to buy it.
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MAN c: It has a history?
DEALER [quickly wrapping some money inapiece ofpaper]: Here, take this and leave. We've had quite enough. Come. At once.
M AN A : Let her talk. If you don't let her talk we'll know that you're also familiar with its history. Are you trying to pass off a defective article?
KIYOKO [spurning the money]: I'll tell you then. This wardrobe belonged to the Sakurayama family. [General stir.] Mrs Sakurayama used to hide her young lover inside the wardrobe.
The lover's name was Yasushi. One day her jealous husband -
he was a terrifying man - heard a noise inside the wardrobe. He took out his pistol and without a word fired from the outside. He fired and fired until the horrible screams finally died away and the blood came gushing through the crack under the wardrobe door. Look. [She points at the door.] You can't see very well because of the carving, but this is where the bullet holes were.
Here and here, look. They've repaired the holes very cleverly and filled them in with wood of the same colour, but you can still see them.... They've washed away every trace of the blood from inside the door, they've planed the door down and then re-painted it. ... You've all read about what happened in the newspapers, haven't you? [They are absolutely quiet.] Do you still want to buy it for all that money ? No, I'm sure you wouldn't want the wardrobe, even if it were offered to you as a gift. Three thousand yen is a good price. Even at three thousand yen there can't be many people besides myself who'd buy it.
WOMAN B: Ugh! How gruesome! I really appreciate your having told us. If you hadn't, I'd have spent a fortune acquiring a horrible jinx - Did you say your name was Hisako ?
KIYOKO: It's Ki-yo-ko.
WOMAN B: That's right. Hisako's my daughter's name. Kiyoko, thank you very much indeed. Under the circumstances the best thing to do is to leave as quickly as possible. I wonder if my chauffeur is still waiting. I told him to. [She suddenly notices that WOMAN D has already disappeared.] Oh, can you imagine anyone being so ill-mannered? Leaving that way without a word.
She's always trying to outdo me, even when it comes to leaving a place. Unspeakable creature! [So saying, she exits to right.] 133
[MEN A, C and E variously approach KIYOKO and offer their cards.]
MAN A: You've saved me a bit of money. Thanks very much. I'd like to take you to dinner - nothing special, of course - just to show my appreciation.
MAN C : Miss, I'll take you to a really good French restaurant.
MAN E : How about a dance ? Eh ? After dinner together.
KIYOKO: Thank you all, but I have something to discuss with the proprietor.
MAN A [with the brusque movements of a man of decision, he takes some money from his wallet and hands it to the DEALER]: Understand? You're not to start any trouble. You'll listen quietly to what this young lady has to say, like a father. No more nonsense about the police. Understand? [He takes a pencil from his pocket. To KIYOKO] Young lady. Let me know immediately if this man uses rough language or starts threatening to take you to the police. Would you show me those cards you were just given? [KIYOKO holds up the three cards.] Here we are. [He takes one of the cards.] This is mine. I'll put a mark on it so you won't mistake it. [He makes a mark with his pencil.] I'll be waiting for your call when you've finished your business. You can get me at the telephone number on the card for another two hours. [He returns the card, c and E, dismayed at this turn of events, glower.]
You'll be sure to come, won't you ? I'm hoping very much I can take you to dinner, to show my appreciation.
KIYOKO: Supposing I call you...
MAN A: Yes?
KIYOKO: Supposing I call you... would you still want to see me even if my face were completely changed ?
MAN A: Very witty, very witty, I'm sure, young lady. I'm afraid I don't quite get the point, but still...
KIYOKO: Even if I turned into a horrible old witch?
MAN A: Every woman has many different faces. It takes more than that to surprise a man at my age. Well, I'll be seeing you later.
[A saunters out cheerfully. C and E follow reluctantly.]
DEALER : Quite the little terror, aren't you ? [KIYOKO turns round and starts after A. DEALER, alarmed, stops her.] Don't get so excited. I'm a little on edge myself. ... You said you were a 134
dancer. [To himself] Dancer, indeed. I can imagine the kind of dancer she is.
KIYOKO: Please listen to what I have to say without interrupting.
DEALER [sitting on one of the chairs]: Very well. I'm listening. I won't interrupt. But to think that someone so young, with such a beautiful, sweet face -
KIYOKO: Yes. That's what I want to talk to you about - my beautiful, sweet face.
DEALER [to himself]: How cheeky they are, the girls these days!
KIYOKO: Yasushi was my lover.
DEALER: The young man who got killed inside the wardrobe?
KIYOKO: Yes. He was my lover, but he jilted me and became the lover of Mrs Sakurayama, a woman ten years older than himself. He - yes, that's right - he was the kind of man who always prefers to be loved.
DEALER: That was too bad for you.
KIYOKO: I thought you said you weren't going to interrupt -
Perhaps, I can't be sure, it was my love that drove him away.
Yes, that may have been it. Rather than a happy, easy-going, open love affair, he preferred uneasiness, secrecy, fear - that sort of thing. He was such a handsome boy. When the two of us went out walking together, everybody would say what a perfectly matched couple we made. When we walked together, the blue sky, the woods in the park, the birds - they all were glad to welcome us. The blue sky and the night sky filled with stars belonged to us, you might say. And yet, he chose the inside of a wardrobe.
DEALER: This wardrobe's so big. Maybe there was a sky inside it with stars, and a moon coming up from one corner and sinking in another.
KIYOKO: Yes, he slept inside, woke up inside, and sometimes he ate his meals inside. In this strange, windowless room, this room where the wind never blew and trees never rustled, a room like a coffin, a tomb where he was buried alive. He chose to live in a coffin even before he was killed. A room of pleasure and of death, enveloped in the lingering scent of the woman's perfume, and the odour of his own body.... His body smelled of jasmine.
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DEALER [ gradually warming to the description]: Buried, not among flowers, but among her racks on racks of clothes. '
KIYOKO: Lace flowers, satin flowers, cold, dead, strong-scented flowers.
DEALER [to himself ]: It was damned clever of him. I'd like to die that way myself.
KIYOKO: He died exactly as he hoped. I understand that quite clearly now. And yet, why did he do it ? What did he want to run away from ? What was he trying so desperately to escape that he preferred to die?
DEALER: I'm afraid I'm not much help answering that.
KIYOKO: I'm sure what he wanted to escape was me. [They are both silent.1 Tell me, what could have made him do it? Run away from me, from such a beautiful, sweet face. Perhaps his own beauty gave him all the beauty he could stand.
DEALER: You've got nothing to complain about. Some women spend their whole lives furious at their own ugly faces. Any number yearn for lost youth. You've got beauty and youth, and still you complain. That's asking too much.
KIYOKO : Nobody else ever ran away from my youth and beauty.
He spurned the only two treasures I own.
DEALER: Yasushi isn't the only man, you know. There must've been something abnormal about his tastes, anyway. Take a man like myself, a man whose tastes are completely healthy... [He extends one hand towards her.]
KIYOKO [striking his hand sharply]: Stop it. Desire on any other man's face except his turns my stomach. It's as if I saw a toad.
... Look at me carefully. I've become old, haven't I?
DEALER: Don't make me laugh. With your youth -
KIYOKO: But I'm ugly.
DEALER: If you're ugly, then there aren't any beautiful women left in the world.
KIYOKO: You've failed on both questions. If you had said that I was old and ugly, who knows, I might have given myself to you.
DEALER: I know a bit about the psychology of women myself.
Now I'm supposed to repeat, 'Whatever can you be saying?
Never, though I died for it, could I possibly utter so dreadful a lie as to say that you were old and ugly.' Am I right ?
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KIYOKO: HOW tedious you are. What is it in my face that attracts men I can't stand? I'd like to rip the skin away with my own hands - that's the one dream, the one fantasy left me now. Sometimes I wonder if he wouldn't have loved me better if my face had become hideous and repulsive.
DEALER: The crazy dreams that young, beautiful people have! I long ago became immune to such illogical dreams. Discontent, young lady, is a poison which upsets all the sane principles of the world and makes a mess of your own happiness.
KIYOKO: Discontent! You think you can sum me up with that little word! That's not the kind of world I live in. Something was missing somewhere - a cogwheel - that could have made it possible for him and myself to love each other for ever, for the machine to run smoothly. I've discovered what the missing cogwheel was. It was my face turned hideous.
DEALER: The world is full of missing cogwheels. I don't know about your machine, but it seems to me, at least as far as this globe is concerned, that the one thing that keeps it spinning smoothly is the cogwheels missing here and there.
KIYOKO: Still, if my dream were to come true...
DEALER: Surely he wouldn't come back to life.
KIYOKO: You're wrong. I think he might.
DEALER: YOU keep asking for more and more impossible things.
Now you're thought up something really horrible. You're trying to deny nature.
KIYOKO: Once in a while even a pitiful old miser like yourself is capable of saying something intelligent. You're quite right. My enemy, my rival for his love, was not Mrs Sakurayama. It was nature itself, my beautiful face, the rustle of the woods embracing us, the gracefully shaped pines, the blue sky damp after a rain.
Yes, every unadorned thing was the enemy of our love. Then he left me and ran off into this wardrobe, into a world painted in varnish, a world without windows, a world lit only by an electric bulb.
DEALER: I suppose that's why you have your heart set on buying the wardrobe - you want to try to find your dead lover again inside.
KIYOKO: Yes, I'll spread the word; I'll tell the history of this 137
wardrobe to everybody who might conceivably buy it; I'll disillusion them. I must have this wardrobe and at my price, three thousand yen.
[As she finishes these words, strange inarticulate cries, like those made by the drummers in a no play, are heard from the left, together with sounds resembling the no drums and flute. These accompany the dialogue in the following scene as the two dispute the price of the wardrobe, producing the effect of the rhythms of the no.]
DEALER: Damn it. Those crazy shouts and that pounding noise have started again in the factory. Sometimes it goes on when I have customers here, and it drives me frantic. One of these days I'll have to buy the property and get rid of that factory. The sound of production - that's what our industrialists call it. Poor fools, as long as they live, they'll never grasp the simple fact that an article only acquires value as it gradually becomes old, obsolete, and useless. They turn out their cheap gadgets as quickly as they can, and after a life haunted by poverty, they die, and that's that.
KIYOKO: I've told you again and again. I'll buy it for three thousand yen.
DEALER: Three million yen.
KIYOKO: NO, no, three thousand yen.
DEALER: TWO million yen.
KIYOKO [stamping her feet to the no rhythm]: No, no, three thousand yen.
DEALER: One million yen.
KIYOKO: No, three thousand yen.
DEALER: Five hundred thousand yen.
KIYOKO: Three thousand yen, three thousand yen, three thousand yen.
DEALER: Four hundred thousand yen.
KIYOKO: When I say three thousand yen, I mean three thousand yen.
DEALER: Three hundred thousand yen.
K I YOKO : Make an effort, one great effort. Come down to my level, all the way down. You'll feel wonderful once you've made the plunge, all the way down to three thousand yen. Come, it takes only one word from you. Three thousand yen.
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DEALER: Two hundred thousand yen.
KIYOKO: NO, no, three thousand yen.
DEALER: One hundred thousand yen.
KIYOKO : No, no, three thousand yen.
DEALER: Fifty thousand yen.
KIYOKO: No, three thousand yen, three thousand yen, three thousand yen.
DEALER: Fifty thousand yen. I won't come down another penny.
KIYOKO: Three thousand yen.
DEALER: Fifty thousand yen, fifty thousand yen, fifty thousand yen.
KIYOKO [somewhat weaker]: Three thousand yen.
DEALER: Fifty thousand yen is my rock-bottom price. I won't come down a penny more.
KIYOKO: You're sure?
DEALER : I said fifty thousand yen and I meant fifty thousand yen.
KIYOKO [weakening]: I haven't got that much money.
DEALER: I'm offering it to you at the price it cost me. If you haven't got the money, it's not my fault.
[The noise to left stops completely.]
KIYOKO: Nothing will change your mind?
DEALER : Fifty thousand yen. That's my final offer. Fifty thousand yen.
KIYOKO: I can't afford it. I wanted to buy it and cram it into my tiny apartment, and sit inside thinking of him till I felt my face become hideous - that was my dream. But if I can't have it, that's all right. [She slowly edges backward towards the wardrobe.] Yes, if I can't have it, it's quite all right. It's not really necessary to take this wardrobe all the way back to my apartment in order for my jealousy and my dreams and my pains and my anguish to destroy my face. I can leave it here, without moving it...
DEALER: What are you doing?
KIYOKO : It's all right. The next time you see me, you'll drop dead of fright!
[KIYOKO wheels round and slips into the wardrobe. The doors slam shut with a terrible finality. The DEALER frantically tries to open the doors, but he is unsuccessful.]
DEALER: Damn it. She's locked it from the inside. [He bangs 139
furiously on the door. There is no answer; the inside is absolutely still.] The shameless hussy. She caught me off my guard and now she's finally managed.... She wasn't satisfied with inter-fering with my business and making me lose a fortune. Now, on top of everything else, she's trying the ruin the wardrobe, and it's defective as it is. What have I ever done to deserve this? Damn her. There's no telling what she may be up to inside this wardrobe.
[He puts his ear to the door.] What can she be doing in there ?
This certainly a black day for me.... I can't hear a thing. There's not a sound. It's like putting your ear to a bell. Thick iron walls absolutely silent, though sometimes they can deafen you with reverberations. It doesn't make a sound. ... She couldn't, I'm sure, be disfiguring herself. ... No, that was nothing but a threat, a trick to take advantage of my weakness. [Heputs his ear to the wardrobe again.] Still, what can she be doing ? It gives me the eeriest feeling. Oh - she's switched on the light. Her face is reflected in the mirrors all around her, silent, not saying a word.
Ugh - there's something weird about it. ... No, it was just a threat. [As if he has a premonition] It was only a threat. There's no reason to suppose she would actually go through with such a thing.
[The SUPERINTENDENT of KIYOKO 's apartment building rushes in from right.]
SUPERINTENDENT: Has a dancer named Kiyoko come here? A young, beautiful girl? Kiyoko's her name.
DEALER: Kiyoko? Who are you?
SUPER: I'm the superintendent of the apartment house she lives in.
Are you sure she hasn't been here ? If she comes -
DEALER: Steady, steady. Don't get so excited. If she comes, what then?
SUPER : Her friend tells me she just stole a bottle of sulphuric acid from his shop. He's a pharmacist.
DEALER: Sulphuric acid?
SUPER: He says she dashed out with the bottle in her hand. I've been looking everywhere for her. A man I met on the way said he saw her go into your shop.
DEALER: A-acid, you say?
SUPER: It wasn't so long ago her lover got killed. With a high-140
strung girl like that, there's no telling what she might do. That's what worries me. Just supposing she threw it in somebody's face.
DEALER: YOU think she would? [He recoils and puts his hands to his face in fright.]... No, that's not what she's planning. She's going to throw the acid in her own face.
SUPER: What?
DEALER: Yes, I mean, she'll disfigure herself. What a horrible thing to happen! That beautiful face - she's about to commit a suicide of the face.
SUPER: Why should she do such a thing?
DEALER: Don't you understand what I'm saying ? [Hepoints at the wardrobe.] Kiyoko is in there. She's locked it from the inside.
SUPER:That's terrible. We must get her out of there.
DEALER: The door is solid as a rock.
SUPER: All the same, we've got to do something. [He bangs on the door.] Kiyoko! Kiyoko!
DEALER : A face like that will turn into a witch's! What a black day this has been! [He joins in banging on the door.] Come out!
Don't cause us any trouble. Come out!
SUPER: Kiyoko, Miss Kiyoko.
[A horrible scream is heard from inside the wardrobe. The two men wilt abjectly. A terrible silence. The DEALERS? length brings his hands together in an unconscious attitude of prayer. He wrings out his words.]
DEALER: Come out. I beg you. The wardrobe is useless to me now.
You can have it for three thousand yen. Three thousand yen, that's all. I'm letting you have it. Please come out. [The door finally opens with a heart-rending screeching noise. The DEALER
and the SUPERINTENDENT automatically fall back, KIYOKO
emerges, the vial held in her hand. Her face is not in the least altered.] Your face - nothing's happened!
SUPER: Thank heavens.
DEALER: Thank heavens, my eye. I didn't bargain on that. You're a cheat. Frightening people this way - you might've caused me apoplexy. It's no laughing matter.
KIYOKO [calmly]: I haven't cheated you. I really intended to throw the acid in my face.
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DEALER: Then what was that scream?
KIYOKO: I switched on the light inside the wardrobe. I saw my face reflected in the mirrors all around me, and the reflections of the reflections of my face in the mirror by the mirror behind it, and these reflections reflected again. Mirrors reflecting mirrors, reflecting my profile, and the mirrors reflected again. An endless, infinite number of my faces, stretching on and on.... It was so cold inside the wardrobe. I was waiting, wondering if among all those faces of mine his might not suddenly appear.
DEALER [ shuddering again]: And did it?
KIYOKO: NO, it didn't. To the ends of the earth, to the ends of the sea, to the ends of the whole world, my face and only my face. I removed the cap from the bottle and I stared at my face in the mirror. I thought, Supposing my face disfigured by this acid were repeated to the ends of the earth? Suddenly I had a vision of my face after I had disfigured it, the horrible face of a witch scarred and festering.
DEALER: And then you screamed?
KIYOKO: Yes.
DEALER: That was when you lost the courage to throw the acid in your face, wasn't it ?
K i YOKO : No. I came back to my senses and screwed the cap on the bottle again, not because I had lost my nerve, but because I realized that even the terrible suffering, jealousy, anger, torment, and pain I had gone through had not been enough to change a human face, that no matter what happened my face was my face.
DEALER: You see, you can't win when you fight with nature.
KIYOKO: I wasn't beaten. I became reconciled to nature.
DEALER: A convenient way of looking at it.
KIYOKO: I have become reconciled. [She drops the bottle on to the floor. The DEALER hastens to kick it aside.] It's spring now, isn't it? I've realized it for the first time. The seasons have meant nothing to me for such a long, long time, ever since he disappeared into this wardrobe. [She sniffs the air around her.] It's the height of spring. Even in this musty old shop I can smell it -
where is it coming from ? - a fragrance of spring earth, of plants and trees, of flowers. The cherry blossoms must be in full glory.
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Clouds of blossoms, and apart from them only the pines. The strong green of the branches amidst the smoky blossoms, the outlines sharp because they've never had any dreams. The birds are singing. [A twittering of birds is heard.] A singing of birds passing like sunlight through the thickest walls. Even as we stand here the spring relentlessly presses in on us, with such a multitude of cherry blossoms, such a multitude of singing birds.
Every last branch holds as many as it can and shuts its eyes in rapture under the delicious weight. And the wind -1 can smell the fragrance of his living body in this wind. I had forgotten. It was spring!
DEALER : Will you kindly purchase the wardrobe and leave ?
KIYOKO : You were saying a while ago that you'd let me have it for three thousand yen, weren't you?
DEALER: Don't be silly. That was only in case your face was disfigured. The price is still five hundred thousand yen. No, six hundred thousand.
KIYOKO: I don't want it.
DEALER: YOU don't?
KIYOKO: That's right. I really don't want it any more. Sell it to some foolish rich man. Don't worry. I won't make any more trouble for you.
DEALER : Thank heavens for that.
SUPER: Let's go back together to the apartment. You'll have to apologize to your friend in the pharmacy for making him worry.
Then you should get a good night's sleep. You must be exhausted.
KIYOKO [ taking a card from her handbag and examining it]: No, I have an engagement now.
SUPER: Where?
DEALER [ noticing the card KIYOKO holds]: With that gentleman?
Now?
KIYOKO: Yes, with that gentleman, now.
DEALER: If you go, you can be sure he'll give you quite a time.
KI YO KO : I'm not worried. Nothing can bother me, no matter what happens. Who do you suppose can wound me now?
SUPER: Spring is a dangerous season.
143
DEALER: You'll be ruined. Your heart'll be torn to shreds. You'll end up no longer able to feel anything.
KIYOKO: Still, nothing that happens can ever change my face.
[ KIYOKO takes a lipstick from her bag, applies it to her lips, then turning her back on the two men, who watch her blankly, she suddenly rushes off to right, fast as the wind.]
CURTAIN
Translated by Donald Keene