Duelling and cherries

            Do you like cherries? In my case, I didn't always particularly like them, but when I was in high school I read a short story by Pushkin, and since then they have become my favourite food. For a while, I ate nothing but cherries.
You might ask why I started eating cherries so much after reading Pushkin. Or you might not.

But let's assume that you will ask. If you say, "I don't care if you like cherries or hate watermelons, I'm busy. If you are busy, you don't have to read the rest of this article. If you are that busy, well, you probably wouldn't have read this essay in the first place. Pushkin has a short story called 'The Shot'. It is about nineteenth-century Russia. Silvio, a young officer, is unable to get along with his new officer. The new officer is handsome, well-bred, young, rich, smart, cheerful and liked by everyone. He quickly becomes the star of the unit and the ladies flock around him at balls. Silvio used to be a prominent figure in his own right, but now he is completely outshone by the new officer, who is understandably not amused. After a series of mild clashes, the two finally end up in a duel. Duelling was not uncommon in 19th-century Russia (Pushkin himself lost his life in a duel). Silvio is nervous going into the early morning duel, but his opponent, a handsome officer, comes to the scene eating cherries and looking as if he doesn't give a damn. With a military cap full of cherries in his hand, he eats one and spits out the seeds in a huff and a puff. Seeing this, Silvio's blood rushes to his head even more. This life-threatening encounter is just another day in the life of the other party. It seems that even the fact that he might lose his life this morning is just a minor episode in his life. Silvio feels terribly insulted.
First, the handsome officer fires his pistol and misses. Now it is Silvio's turn to shoot. But even there, the other man continues to mindlessly eat cherries. Silvio lowers the gun he's holding. 'I would like to reserve the right to shoot this one,' he says. 'What's the point in shooting someone who has no fear of death? And how does the story evolve from there?

It's an interesting novel, so if you're interested, read it yourself. I can't give away the ending of this kind of story. After reading this story, I often eat cherries. I was never surrounded by women at a ball, and I never caused a duel, but whenever I ate cherries I remembered this novel and could (somewhat) pretend to be a young man who did not fear death. With a paper bag of cherries in my hand, I would leisurely eat them while walking the streets, taking the bus or watching a film. I still eat cherries now and then, but no matter how coolly I spit the seeds out in a puff, I don't feel as 'scared' as I used to. Maybe it's because I've seen all sorts of scary things.

Murakami this week.

At Itami Airport, there was a signboard with a Glico runner on it that said 'Won't you take a photo with me? Of course, I took it.