Page:Eminent Authors of Contemporary Japan.pdf/40

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28
Eminent Authors of Japan

own mistress then, can’t you understand?

  • Kakutaro.—Oh, do you mean that you loved me then?
  • The Fox.—Yes, I was devoted to you only. I hated both those men, but I was obliged to drink to please them, and had to amuse them, or I would have got into trouble.
  • Kakutaro.—Rosa-san, I still have the handkerchief that you gave me. (He takes a rose-colored handkerchief made of silk from his dress.) Look at this, the very handkerchief that you gave me, and as you handed it to me you said: ‘I will give you this, Kakutaro-san!
  • The Fox.—Yes, that is the same one. Just fancy your keeping it till now!
  • Kakutaro.—On the comer of it is written two letters. ‘K’ and ‘R.’
  • The Fox.—Yes. (The fox takes it and examines it.) Do you understand what those letters mean? ‘R’ is for Rosa, and ‘K’ stands for Kakutaro.
  • Kakutaro.—But do you know that when I showed it to the boys who were working with me at the tailor’s, they said that the ‘K’ stood for Kelly.
  • Osayo.—Oh, no, it’s you. I stitched it on specially for you because I loved you.
  • Kakutaro.—Yes, I know. I told them that, but they laughed at me, saying I had made a mistake, and it made me madder and madder, and the whole time I worked there after that they made all kinds of fun of me, and played jokes upon me.
  • The Fox.—Oh, did they laugh at you?