・Scorpion
The bank on the other side of the river suddenly turned red.
A withy tree and others were blackened, and the invisible waves of Milky Way were glowing red like a flicker of needles.
A large, bright red fire was burning in the field on the far side of the river, and the black smoke seemed to scorch the high, bellflower-colored, cold sky.
The fire burned redder and clearer than rubies, more beautiful and drunker than lithium.
"What's that fire? What would have to burn to make a fire glow that red?" Giovanni said.
"Scorpion fire." Campanella replied again, looking the map eagerly.
"Oh, I know what the scorpion's fire is." The girl said.
"What is the scorpion's fire?" Giovanni asked.
"Scorpion burned to death. I heard from my father many times that the fire is still burning."
"Scorpion is an insect, right?"
"Yes, scorpion is an insect. But it's a nice insect."
"Scorpion is not a nice insect. I saw one in a museum, dipped in alcohol. The teacher said it had a hook on its tail like this, and if you get pierced by it, it will kill you."
"Yes. But it's a good insect. My father said. A long time ago, there was a scorpion that lived in a field in Barudora and used to kill little insects and other things and eat them.
One day, the scorpion was found by a weasel and almost eaten. The scorpion was desperate to live, run away, at last they were almost caught by the weasel.
Then all of a sudden there was a well in front of them, and they fell into it. They couldn't get out anyway, so they began to drown.
At that time, the scorpion prayed, saying,
'Oh, I don't know how many lives I've taken, and when I was about to be taken by the weasel, I was desperate for my life.
And now it's finally reached this situation. We could rely on nothing. Why didn't I give my body to the weasel silently?
Then the weasel would have lived for a day. Please, God, look at my heart.
Please use my body for the true happiness of all the people, not to throw away the life in vain.'
Then, before they knew it, the scorpion saw their body burning into a beautiful red fire, illuminating the darkness of night.
My father said that the fire is still burning. That's really the fire."
"Yes. Look. Those triangle signals are just like the shape of scorpion."
Giovanni saw that there were three triangle signals just like scorpion arms on the other side of the big fire and five triangle signals like scorpion tails and hook on this side.
And indeed, the bright red fire of the beautiful scorpion burned soundlessly and brightly.
As the fire gradually moved to the back, everyone heard indescribable noisy sounds of various music, smells of flowers and plants, whistling, and people's voices.
It was as if there was a town or something, and it seemed that a festival soon was be held there.
The boy next to Giovanni, who had been sleeping, was suddenly looking out the window and shouting, "Centaur, sprinkle dewdrops."
Oh, there was a bright blue hondo spruce or fir tree like a Christmas tree, with many, many bean lights in it, like a thousand fireflies.
"Oh, I remember, Centaur Festival is tonight."
"Yes. Here, we're in the village of Centaur." Campanella said immediately. [missing 1 (?) piece of manuscript]
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad
A withy tree and others were blackened, and the invisible waves of Milky Way were glowing red like a flicker of needles.
A large, bright red fire was burning in the field on the far side of the river, and the black smoke seemed to scorch the high, bellflower-colored, cold sky.
The fire burned redder and clearer than rubies, more beautiful and drunker than lithium.
"What's that fire? What would have to burn to make a fire glow that red?" Giovanni said.
"Scorpion fire." Campanella replied again, looking the map eagerly.
"Oh, I know what the scorpion's fire is." The girl said.
"What is the scorpion's fire?" Giovanni asked.
"Scorpion burned to death. I heard from my father many times that the fire is still burning."
"Scorpion is an insect, right?"
"Yes, scorpion is an insect. But it's a nice insect."
"Scorpion is not a nice insect. I saw one in a museum, dipped in alcohol. The teacher said it had a hook on its tail like this, and if you get pierced by it, it will kill you."
"Yes. But it's a good insect. My father said. A long time ago, there was a scorpion that lived in a field in Barudora and used to kill little insects and other things and eat them.
One day, the scorpion was found by a weasel and almost eaten. The scorpion was desperate to live, run away, at last they were almost caught by the weasel.
Then all of a sudden there was a well in front of them, and they fell into it. They couldn't get out anyway, so they began to drown.
At that time, the scorpion prayed, saying,
'Oh, I don't know how many lives I've taken, and when I was about to be taken by the weasel, I was desperate for my life.
And now it's finally reached this situation. We could rely on nothing. Why didn't I give my body to the weasel silently?
Then the weasel would have lived for a day. Please, God, look at my heart.
Please use my body for the true happiness of all the people, not to throw away the life in vain.'
Then, before they knew it, the scorpion saw their body burning into a beautiful red fire, illuminating the darkness of night.
My father said that the fire is still burning. That's really the fire."
"Yes. Look. Those triangle signals are just like the shape of scorpion."
Giovanni saw that there were three triangle signals just like scorpion arms on the other side of the big fire and five triangle signals like scorpion tails and hook on this side.
And indeed, the bright red fire of the beautiful scorpion burned soundlessly and brightly.
As the fire gradually moved to the back, everyone heard indescribable noisy sounds of various music, smells of flowers and plants, whistling, and people's voices.
It was as if there was a town or something, and it seemed that a festival soon was be held there.
The boy next to Giovanni, who had been sleeping, was suddenly looking out the window and shouting, "Centaur, sprinkle dewdrops."
Oh, there was a bright blue hondo spruce or fir tree like a Christmas tree, with many, many bean lights in it, like a thousand fireflies.
"Oh, I remember, Centaur Festival is tonight."
"Yes. Here, we're in the village of Centaur." Campanella said immediately. [missing 1 (?) piece of manuscript]
- To return to table of contents of Night on the Galactic Railroad