6. Galactic Station
Then Giovanni saw Weather Wheel pillar in the right back becoming the vague shape of triangle signal.
It was flickering on and off for a while, like a firefly.
Then it became clearer and clearer, and finally stopped flickering and stood up on the dark steel-blue field of sky.
It stood straight and clear on the field of sky like a freshly burned blue steel slabs.
Then, somewhere, a mysterious voice called out, "Galactic Station, Galactic Station."
And suddenly his eyes lit up, as if millions of firefly squids had been fossilized all at once and sunk into the sky.
His eyes quickly became brighter, as if someone suddenly turned over and scattered the vajra stones that the diamond companies hid under the pretense that they couldn't be harvested in order to keep the price high.
Giovanni couldn't help but rub his eyes a number of times.
He realized that the little train he was riding in had been going on and on 'goto goto goto goto' from a little while ago.
Indeed, Giovanni was sitting in the nighttime light railroad's little yellow light-lined compartment, looking out the window.
Inside the compartment, benches of velvet were empty, and two big brass buttons gleamed on the wall opposite which varnished gray color.
Just in front of him, he noticed a tall child in a wet-black jacket, looking out the window with his head out.
The child's shoulders looked familiar, and Giovanni couldn't help but want to know who he was.
Just as Giovanni was about to look out the window, the child suddenly pulled his head back and looked at Giovanni.
It was Campanella.
When Giovanni was about to say, "Campanella, you've been here before?", Campanella said.
"Everyone ran a lot, but they were too late. Zanelli also ran a lot, but couldn't catch up."
Giovanni was thinking, (Yes, we just went out together.)
Giovanni said, "Shall we wait somewhere else?" Then Campanella said.
"Zanelli is home. His father has come to pick him up."
For some reason, Campanella saying that, looked a little pale and distressed.
Giovanni also had a strange feeling that there was something he had forgotten somewhere, and he stopped talking.
But Campanella, looking out of the window, completely recovered, said with great vigor.
"Oh, no. I forgot my water bottle. I forgot my sketchbook too. But that's OK. Swan Station is coming up.
I really like to see swans. Even if they are flying far down the river, I can see them."
And Campanella was looking at the circular plate of the map, spinning it around and around.
In it, a line of railroad tracks led southward and southward along the left bank of the white Milky Way.
And the map was splendid on which each station, triangle, signal, fountain and forest was studded as a beautiful light dazzling blue, orange and green, on the disk black as night.
Giovanni felt as if he had seen this map somewhere.
"Where did you get this map? It's made of obsidian." Giovanni said.
"I got it on Galactic Station. You didn't get it?"
"Oh, I had passed through Galactic Station? That's where we are right now."
Giovanni pointed to the just north of the station sign of Swan.
"Yes. Oh, is that riverbed a moonlight night?"
Giovanni looked in that direction and saw silvery pampas grass of sky on the shore of pale-lighting galaxy.
The pampas grass seemed to be all over the place, swaying in the wind, making waves.
"It's not a moonlight night. It's a galaxy, so it glows." Giovanni said.
And he was so happy that he wanted to jump up and down.
He made a sound "kotsu kotsu" using his feet, looked out of the window.
Whistling Star Travel high and high, he stretched and tried to find the water of Milky Way.
But at first, it was not clear, by all means.
But as he watched more and more carefully, he found that the clean water was clearer than glass and hydrogen.
Occasionally it would make fine purple waves or glisten like a rainbow, and then it would flow away soundlessly.
In the field, here and there, the triangle signals of phosphorescent were standing.
The distant ones were small, the near ones were large.
The distant ones were distinctly orange or yellow, the near ones were pale and slightly hazy.
Triangle or rectangle, lightning or chain, those shapes variously lined up and glowing in the field.
Giovanni shook his head, as if in a panic.
Indeed, all over the beautiful field, blue, orange and various shimmering triangle signal flickered and waved, as if each one was breathing.
"I'm already in the heavenly fields." Giovanni said.
"This train doesn't burn coal." Giovanni stuck out his left hand and looked out the window and said.
"It's probably alcohol or electricity." Campanella said.
That little beautiful train was going to run "goto goto goto goto" forever and ever.
In the pampas grass of sky fluttering by wind, in the water of Milky Way, in the pale glow of the triangle point.
"Ah, autumn bellflowers are in bloom. It's autumn already." Campanella said, pointing out the window.
There were wonderful purple autumn bellflowers that looked as if they had been carved out of moonstone in the short grass of the edge of the railroad tracks.
"I'll jump down and get them, and jump back on." Giovanni said, his heart pounding with excitement.
"You can't do it. They has gone all the way back."
Before Campanella could finish his sentence, the next autumn bellflowers were passed by flashing many times.
And then, one after another, many cups of yellow-bottomed autumn bellflowers, like a spring, like rain, passed in front of them.
The row of triangle signals stood as if smoking and burning, finally stood glowing.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad
It was flickering on and off for a while, like a firefly.
Then it became clearer and clearer, and finally stopped flickering and stood up on the dark steel-blue field of sky.
It stood straight and clear on the field of sky like a freshly burned blue steel slabs.
Then, somewhere, a mysterious voice called out, "Galactic Station, Galactic Station."
And suddenly his eyes lit up, as if millions of firefly squids had been fossilized all at once and sunk into the sky.
His eyes quickly became brighter, as if someone suddenly turned over and scattered the vajra stones that the diamond companies hid under the pretense that they couldn't be harvested in order to keep the price high.
Giovanni couldn't help but rub his eyes a number of times.
He realized that the little train he was riding in had been going on and on 'goto goto goto goto' from a little while ago.
Indeed, Giovanni was sitting in the nighttime light railroad's little yellow light-lined compartment, looking out the window.
Inside the compartment, benches of velvet were empty, and two big brass buttons gleamed on the wall opposite which varnished gray color.
Just in front of him, he noticed a tall child in a wet-black jacket, looking out the window with his head out.
The child's shoulders looked familiar, and Giovanni couldn't help but want to know who he was.
Just as Giovanni was about to look out the window, the child suddenly pulled his head back and looked at Giovanni.
It was Campanella.
When Giovanni was about to say, "Campanella, you've been here before?", Campanella said.
"Everyone ran a lot, but they were too late. Zanelli also ran a lot, but couldn't catch up."
Giovanni was thinking, (Yes, we just went out together.)
Giovanni said, "Shall we wait somewhere else?" Then Campanella said.
"Zanelli is home. His father has come to pick him up."
For some reason, Campanella saying that, looked a little pale and distressed.
Giovanni also had a strange feeling that there was something he had forgotten somewhere, and he stopped talking.
But Campanella, looking out of the window, completely recovered, said with great vigor.
"Oh, no. I forgot my water bottle. I forgot my sketchbook too. But that's OK. Swan Station is coming up.
I really like to see swans. Even if they are flying far down the river, I can see them."
And Campanella was looking at the circular plate of the map, spinning it around and around.
In it, a line of railroad tracks led southward and southward along the left bank of the white Milky Way.
And the map was splendid on which each station, triangle, signal, fountain and forest was studded as a beautiful light dazzling blue, orange and green, on the disk black as night.
Giovanni felt as if he had seen this map somewhere.
"Where did you get this map? It's made of obsidian." Giovanni said.
"I got it on Galactic Station. You didn't get it?"
"Oh, I had passed through Galactic Station? That's where we are right now."
Giovanni pointed to the just north of the station sign of Swan.
"Yes. Oh, is that riverbed a moonlight night?"
Giovanni looked in that direction and saw silvery pampas grass of sky on the shore of pale-lighting galaxy.
The pampas grass seemed to be all over the place, swaying in the wind, making waves.
"It's not a moonlight night. It's a galaxy, so it glows." Giovanni said.
And he was so happy that he wanted to jump up and down.
He made a sound "kotsu kotsu" using his feet, looked out of the window.
Whistling Star Travel high and high, he stretched and tried to find the water of Milky Way.
But at first, it was not clear, by all means.
But as he watched more and more carefully, he found that the clean water was clearer than glass and hydrogen.
Occasionally it would make fine purple waves or glisten like a rainbow, and then it would flow away soundlessly.
In the field, here and there, the triangle signals of phosphorescent were standing.
The distant ones were small, the near ones were large.
The distant ones were distinctly orange or yellow, the near ones were pale and slightly hazy.
Triangle or rectangle, lightning or chain, those shapes variously lined up and glowing in the field.
Giovanni shook his head, as if in a panic.
Indeed, all over the beautiful field, blue, orange and various shimmering triangle signal flickered and waved, as if each one was breathing.
"I'm already in the heavenly fields." Giovanni said.
"This train doesn't burn coal." Giovanni stuck out his left hand and looked out the window and said.
"It's probably alcohol or electricity." Campanella said.
That little beautiful train was going to run "goto goto goto goto" forever and ever.
In the pampas grass of sky fluttering by wind, in the water of Milky Way, in the pale glow of the triangle point.
"Ah, autumn bellflowers are in bloom. It's autumn already." Campanella said, pointing out the window.
There were wonderful purple autumn bellflowers that looked as if they had been carved out of moonstone in the short grass of the edge of the railroad tracks.
"I'll jump down and get them, and jump back on." Giovanni said, his heart pounding with excitement.
"You can't do it. They has gone all the way back."
Before Campanella could finish his sentence, the next autumn bellflowers were passed by flashing many times.
And then, one after another, many cups of yellow-bottomed autumn bellflowers, like a spring, like rain, passed in front of them.
The row of triangle signals stood as if smoking and burning, finally stood glowing.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad