・Eagle Station
"The end of the swan district is in sight. Look. That's famous Albireo observatory."
Outside the window, in the middle of Milky Way as if full of fireworks, there were four large black buildings standing.
On the flat roof of one of them, two large, dazzling, transparent balls of sapphire and topaz spun gently around in a circle.
The yellow one went around to the other side, and then the smaller blue one came toward them, and soon the two ends overlapped, forming a beautiful green double-sided convex lens.
It also gradually began to swell out, and finally the blue one was completely in front of the topaz, so that it had a green center and a bright yellow ring.
It gradually deviated to the side again, reversing the shape of the previous lens, and finally the detached sapphire went around to the other side, and the yellow one went this way, taking on the shape just like before.
Surrounded by the shapeless and soundless waters of the galaxy, truly that black weather station was lying quietly, as if it were sleeping.
"It's an instrument to measure the speed of water. Water also......" The bird catcher was about to say.
"Let me see your ticket, sir." Next to the three seats, a tall conductor in a red hat was standing upright before they knew it.
The bird catcher quietly pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket.
The conductor looked at it for a moment, then quickly looked away, and as if saying (What about you?), he held out his hand in the direction of Giovanni and his friend, moving his fingers.
"Well," Giovanni was flinching in trouble.
Then, as if no problem, Campanella took small gray ticket.
Giovanni was so flustered that he put his hand in his jacket pocket, wondering if it was in his pocket.
And he found a large folded piece of paper.
He wondered if there was such a thing in it, so he hurriedly took it out and found it was a green paper, about the size of a postcard folded into four pieces.
The conductor was holding out his hand, so he didn't mind giving it to him.
The conductor stood up straight and looked at it carefully.
As he read it, he was constantly arranging buttons on his jacket, and the lighthouse keeper was looking eagerly at it from below.
Giovanni thought that it was a certificate or something, and felt a little excited.
"Did you get this from tertiary space?" The conductor asked.
"I don't know what it is." Reassured that everything was OK, Giovanni looked up and chuckled.
"All right, sir. The train will be arriving at Southern Cross at around the third hour."
The conductor handed a piece of paper to Giovanni and went over there.
Campanella hurriedly peeked in as if he couldn't help but wait to see what that piece of paper was.
Giovanni wanted to see it too.
But it was a piece of paper with ten strange letters printed on it in black arabesque pattern.
Looking it silently, he felt as if he was being sucked into it.
Then the bird catcher glanced at it from the side and said in a panic.
"Oh, that's great. This is a ticket to everywhere, even to the heaven. It's a pass to walk anywhere, not only the heaven.
You have this, then you'll be able to go anywhere on this imperfect, illusory four dimensional galactic railroad. You're quite great."
"I don't know what it is." Giovanni replied, turning red as he folded it up again and put it in his pocket.
And because of my embarrassment, with Campanella, they were looking out the window again.
But he vaguely noticed that the bird catcher was glancing at them, as if to say that they were great guys.
"We're almost at Eagle Station." Campanella compared the map to the three small pale triangle signal on the opposite shore and said.
Giovanni couldn't understand why and suddenly felt sorry for the bird catcher next to him.
The bird catcher caught the herons and was delighted, wrapped it up in a white cloth, then looked sideways at another person's ticket as if it were a surprise and started to praise it in a hurry.
Thinking of it, it made him want to give the bird catcher whatever he had or he ate.
He felt that if he could make this man truly happy, he would be willing to stand on the shiny Milky Way bed for a hundred years straight and catch birds.
And he couldn't keep silent anymore.
Giovanni was about to ask the bird catcher what he truly wanted, but it would be a too sudden question, that Giovanni turned around thinking it.
And he saw that the bird catcher disappeared.
There wasn't the white luggage on the overhead rack.
Giovanni wondered if the bird catcher was preparing to catch herons again outside standing firm and looking up the sky, so he hurriedly looked in that direction.
But outside, there was only the beautiful sand and white pampas grass waves, and he couldn't see the bird catcher's wide back and sharp hat.
"Where he's gone." Campanella said vaguely.
"Where he's gone. I don't know where I'm going to see him again. I don't know why I didn't say about something to him."
"Yeah, that's what I think."
"I felt he was in the way. That's why it's so hard for me."
Giovanni thought he had never experienced such a strange feeling in his life and he had never said anything like this before.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad
Outside the window, in the middle of Milky Way as if full of fireworks, there were four large black buildings standing.
On the flat roof of one of them, two large, dazzling, transparent balls of sapphire and topaz spun gently around in a circle.
The yellow one went around to the other side, and then the smaller blue one came toward them, and soon the two ends overlapped, forming a beautiful green double-sided convex lens.
It also gradually began to swell out, and finally the blue one was completely in front of the topaz, so that it had a green center and a bright yellow ring.
It gradually deviated to the side again, reversing the shape of the previous lens, and finally the detached sapphire went around to the other side, and the yellow one went this way, taking on the shape just like before.
Surrounded by the shapeless and soundless waters of the galaxy, truly that black weather station was lying quietly, as if it were sleeping.
"It's an instrument to measure the speed of water. Water also......" The bird catcher was about to say.
"Let me see your ticket, sir." Next to the three seats, a tall conductor in a red hat was standing upright before they knew it.
The bird catcher quietly pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket.
The conductor looked at it for a moment, then quickly looked away, and as if saying (What about you?), he held out his hand in the direction of Giovanni and his friend, moving his fingers.
"Well," Giovanni was flinching in trouble.
Then, as if no problem, Campanella took small gray ticket.
Giovanni was so flustered that he put his hand in his jacket pocket, wondering if it was in his pocket.
And he found a large folded piece of paper.
He wondered if there was such a thing in it, so he hurriedly took it out and found it was a green paper, about the size of a postcard folded into four pieces.
The conductor was holding out his hand, so he didn't mind giving it to him.
The conductor stood up straight and looked at it carefully.
As he read it, he was constantly arranging buttons on his jacket, and the lighthouse keeper was looking eagerly at it from below.
Giovanni thought that it was a certificate or something, and felt a little excited.
"Did you get this from tertiary space?" The conductor asked.
"I don't know what it is." Reassured that everything was OK, Giovanni looked up and chuckled.
"All right, sir. The train will be arriving at Southern Cross at around the third hour."
The conductor handed a piece of paper to Giovanni and went over there.
Campanella hurriedly peeked in as if he couldn't help but wait to see what that piece of paper was.
Giovanni wanted to see it too.
But it was a piece of paper with ten strange letters printed on it in black arabesque pattern.
Looking it silently, he felt as if he was being sucked into it.
Then the bird catcher glanced at it from the side and said in a panic.
"Oh, that's great. This is a ticket to everywhere, even to the heaven. It's a pass to walk anywhere, not only the heaven.
You have this, then you'll be able to go anywhere on this imperfect, illusory four dimensional galactic railroad. You're quite great."
"I don't know what it is." Giovanni replied, turning red as he folded it up again and put it in his pocket.
And because of my embarrassment, with Campanella, they were looking out the window again.
But he vaguely noticed that the bird catcher was glancing at them, as if to say that they were great guys.
"We're almost at Eagle Station." Campanella compared the map to the three small pale triangle signal on the opposite shore and said.
Giovanni couldn't understand why and suddenly felt sorry for the bird catcher next to him.
The bird catcher caught the herons and was delighted, wrapped it up in a white cloth, then looked sideways at another person's ticket as if it were a surprise and started to praise it in a hurry.
Thinking of it, it made him want to give the bird catcher whatever he had or he ate.
He felt that if he could make this man truly happy, he would be willing to stand on the shiny Milky Way bed for a hundred years straight and catch birds.
And he couldn't keep silent anymore.
Giovanni was about to ask the bird catcher what he truly wanted, but it would be a too sudden question, that Giovanni turned around thinking it.
And he saw that the bird catcher disappeared.
There wasn't the white luggage on the overhead rack.
Giovanni wondered if the bird catcher was preparing to catch herons again outside standing firm and looking up the sky, so he hurriedly looked in that direction.
But outside, there was only the beautiful sand and white pampas grass waves, and he couldn't see the bird catcher's wide back and sharp hat.
"Where he's gone." Campanella said vaguely.
"Where he's gone. I don't know where I'm going to see him again. I don't know why I didn't say about something to him."
"Yeah, that's what I think."
"I felt he was in the way. That's why it's so hard for me."
Giovanni thought he had never experienced such a strange feeling in his life and he had never said anything like this before.
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad