Trapa japonica

There is a small reservoir in area of my taking walk, ten minutes on foot from my house. In early summer, some tiny leaves appear here and there on the water surface. And each time I walk by, I notice that water space of the reservoir gets narrower with these leaves which grew in size and increased in number. They are leaves of Trapa japonica, Hishi in Japanese.

ここ数日訪れぬ間に菱の葉は水の面（おもて）をなかば覆えり

I came and saw

after a couple of days

half of on the aqueous surface

has been bespreaded by Trapa japonica

,

The extension of the territory of the leaves ends up to cover fully of the water surface about in fortnight. And they begin to bloom quite small white flowers. They are too tiny to stand out in sunlight and look icy and shimmering in moonlight.

*

Several years ago, I happened to see an exhibition being held on the first floor of a library, and there I saw a nut of Trapa japonica, which has four inflections and one of them perpendicularly points upward, being exhibited next to an iron ninja star. It tells me that the nuts are origin of ninja stars which are thrown or littered by ninja who wants to do offense or defense against opponents.

I myself, have never noticed this plants bear nuts on the reservoir near my house, and just after the flowers bloom, they seem to fade and sink to disappear. In fact it looks that the fade-out is quicker than the growing, as I have seen in these years that after several days of their zenith their green colour turns to darker and suddenly on some day I can observe nothing but water there.

The way of growing and fading of Trapa japonica is supposed to be opposite to that of freezing and of making sheet of ice on a pond; ice sheet is made almost in a day or so and melts little by little taking time, in some cases the parts of melting ice look like the leaves just after appearance on water as the photo shows, on the contrary Trapa japonica grows day by day and vanishes almost abruptly.

by Anisha_Creation, Flickr

Never Let Me Go

てらてらと温室育ちの葉の光る

部屋にクローンの物語読む

I'm reading a story about clones

beside a potted hothouse plant

which interior light makes glimmer

fishily and bloodlessly

June is rainy season in Japan, though climate is unstable in recent years, actually it is rainy today. Now I am writing this listening to CD "Misty" by Ohta-san (Herb Ohta);the pieces of music bring in here some breeze with floral scents.

Here, let me introduce "Never Let Me Go", by Kazuo Ishiguro, which is heart rending story begun with some memories of narrator, Kathy, of her childhood with her friends, Tommy and Ruth. They passed their time of childhood in a dormitory called Hailsham. Superficially their lives have no difference from other children's, except that Hailsham was isolated from outer world, and children's creation, drawings and crafts, were taken away by Madame who made her visit once in a while. All of children there believed that their arts would be shown in Gallery after taken by her to outer world.

Tommy always struggled with his uncreativeness and often resorted to temper tantrum. One of his teacher encouraged him ; "Turn the corner then it will bloom."

When they came to age, they were forced to move to another dormitory to pass their time as adult. They exchange many information there and these information make them confirm something special; They are clones and have duty as they donate their own organs. Meantime, their friendship between the three develops somehow. However their relationship, similar to love, sees the end by Ruth's death after complete of her second donation, and by passing bell of the forth complete by Tommy. This ending gives readers helpless sadness and unfocused anger.

At the close to the end of this story, it is found that Madame is belonged to an advanced humanitarian group, and the group is connected to a cutting-edge science group that has created clones. These groups are so called "trend": many of them are no more than old ones when climate has changed.

Such theme as "trend" and "victims" who are involved in certain epoch is seen in "The Remain of the Day", by the same author, as well.

Despite the tragedy, there are many picturesque scenes which I am fond of in this story; an acoustic restaurant in Hailsham, Norfolk where a classmate called " lost corner" of England, balloons in a bundle grasped by a man who is walking along the coast of Norfolk, and the shop Kathy goes to find out the same cassette of the lost one.

It is still raining. Now the CD by Ohta-san is playing the last piece of music. Can you imagine the title of this one? It is not the one that was packed in the cassette, the third number, but one by Jay Livingston $ Ray Evans, "Never Let Me Go".

Hunstanton, Norfolk

By mx5barry, Flirck