The Lower Depths Page #5

she's hardly a damsel in distress.

Hey, Gramps.

Listen, old men have more wisdom

than a turtle has shells.

Shut up and listen.

If you're sweet on someone,

you take her by the hand

and scamper the hell out of here.

But what do you care about me?

That's right.

Time to check on our invalid.

She die?

At last.

And where's her husband?

Drinking home brew, no doubt.

I'd better tell him.

I'll go with you.

I can do without corpses.

You scared?

Not my thing.

Gramps! I remember now.

Won't you listen?

"The moon outshines

the very bonfires

where we roast our fish,

hazy in the spring sky.

The chill breeze intoxicates.

Drifting contentedly,

as a solitary wakeful crow

wings its way home,

along the riverbank

dewdrops on an oar

yield treasure.

A hundred silver coins

the unexpected boon.

That's the spirit.

Verily, is it a spring night?

Better the river

than the Western sea.

The fallen whore brings

better fortune.

Unlike a mound of pennies,

the silver coins come

wrapped in cloth.

What good luck,

so early in spring."

You're high as a kite.

Okayo.

Where'd the old man go?

This place's deserted.

I'm taking off.

Come spring, I'm going.

And just where to?

To find that temple.

There's a temple that cures drunks.

Atop some mountain,

where the sun always shines.

A really grand temple.

That's where...

I'll purge that alcohol poisoning

clear out of my bitol organs.

And then I'm going to turn over

a brand new leaf.

Listen, she's dead.

That's impossible.

It's true. See for yourself.

See what?

The tinker's wife is dead.

We can kiss

that hacking good-bye.

Better tell Tomekichi.

He was her husband, after all.

I know that's how I'll end up.

Tortured to my grave.

What are you mumbling about?

I tell you, watch out for Sutekichi.

He'll wind up...

If someone's going to kill me,

I'd rather it was him.

Suit yourself, then.

She's better off dead, too.

I'm sorry for her.

No need to pity her.

I'll kick the bucket soon enough.

So will you.

That's all there is to it.

Say...

I heard.

Well, let's hope she goes to paradise,

since she took the trouble to die.

Let's hurry up

and get her out of here.

What, you're worried she'll stink?

Don't you worry.

She was all dried up as it was.

How can you speak

that way of the dead?

Don't you have a shred of pity?

Now, don't get so upset.

Nobody here's got any time

to pity themselves.

Better inform the magistrate's office.

That's right.

Better hurry and tell them, or they

might think you beat her to death.

I've got to pay for her funeral,

but I've only got 40 pennies.

In a pinch, we can all pitch in.

Ten pennies here, five pennies there.

Whatever we can spare.

I know I'll see her in my dreams.

If I see any corpses I know, I'II...

I'm so scared to walk home alone.

It's pitch-black out there.

The dead won't harm you.

You should worry about the living.

Grandpa, see me home?

All right, dear.

What am I supposed to do?

Sleep.

So then... that's when I said...

"I'm grateful you care so much

for my miserable self,

but God will punish me

for my excessive good fortune."

Considering my unclean body.

And then do you know

what he said?

"Though your body may be polluted,

as long as your spirit is pure,

you're practically a virgin."

Helluva virgin.

Cut it out.

You don't like her story, don't listen.

Don't spoil a perfect way

of passing the time.

So then?

So then he said if his parents

rejected our union,

we'd die together.

He said, "I can't live

another moment without you."

That's when I said,

"Ginjiro-san..."

Hey, last time

you called him "Inosuke."

Hold your tongue!

Hold your tongue, you bum!

What the hell do you know

about true love?

I once knew what it was!

Don't torment her so.

Put yourself in her shoes

as she tells her story.

Why would she tell such a tale?

That's what you've got

to understand.

Pay me five pennies and I'll listen.

That's 10 pennies for two.

What are you waiting for?

Go on. Tell us.

Just ignore them.

I can't anymore.

Nobody takes me seriously.

I'm just a laughingstock.

So then...

this was my reply:

"But that you'd waste your life

on someone so humble as me

is simply incomprehensible.

Better, better yet,

please cast me aside.

I'd happily die

for your kind intentions alone."

I'm just a...

You poor thing.

Go ahead and cry.

Cry your heart out.

What a pathetic act!

Gramps, don't tell me

you actually bought her story.

You're so mean.

That's enough.

Goddamn it!

Sister.

I know very well

that your story's no lie.

That's right.

It's not a lie, goddamn it!

I know very well.

It all happened as you say.

It's just that they're jealous.

They're green with envy,

so they mock you.

Let's go over there now,

and you tell me your story over there.

Gramps, I...

I swear by the sun.

Every last thing really happened.

But they...

I know that. I know.

And so, what happened next

with this fellow?

Man, oh, man, what a mess.

But why does she spout

such lies like that?

I imagine all kinds of things, too...

and keep expecting them to happen.

What kinds of things?

What kinds?

Well, for instance...

that maybe tomorrow someone

will appear, someone good.

Like that.

If not, then something will happen,

something good.

I think about such things,

and I'm always waiting.

Me, I'm not waiting

for anything at all.

All the good stuff in my life

already happened.

But lately I've been thinking

that I might just keel over and die.

I imagine that quite often.

And that makes me so Ionely.

You've got it tough, don't you,

with a sister like yours?

Who doesn't have it tough?

Everybody here's suffering.

Not everybody, you liar!

Plenty of folks around us

live the good life.

What the hell

inspired that outburst?

Say, my lord, why do you

provoke her that way?

It's her only pleasure,

crying her eyes out that way.

I'm sick and tired of her tales.

Makes me sick.

Where'd you leave her, Gramps?

At the tavern.

What say I go make peace with her?

You listen here.

You hold your tongue

and console her.

You're an awfully sweet old man.

Sweet, huh?

It's all a pack of lies.

I'm not up to that kind of act.

I'm the kind that takes

my truth straight, no chaser.

The bare truth!

Wanna know about my bare truth?

I'm penniless, jobless,

and got nowhere to turn!

I'll kick the bucket before long!

What's the point of the bare truth?

He's completely off his rocker.

Now, just quiet down.

Just listen.

Shut up!

You can stuff your lies,

and his bare truth, too!

I can't take anything!

Goddamn it!

He's got a ways to go.

We've got to work

on him a little more.

What's his problem?

Why's the tinker

so hot and bothered?

It's no wonder,

the way he torments himself.

"I'm still a craftsman!"

Like he deserves to act uppity!

Okayo...

are both the demons out?

- Praying at the temple.

- That's a joke.

They expect their puny offerings

to buy them a spot in paradise.

Some nerve.

Oh, don't be so cruel.

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