edwin mcclellan a scene from soseki's meian.pdf

8/14/2019 EDWIN MCCLELLAN a scene from soseki's meian.pdf

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The Society for Japanese Studies

A Scene from Soseki's MeianAuthor(s): Edwin McClellanReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Winter, 1999), pp. 107-120Published by: The Society for Japanese StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/133356.

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PERSPECTIVES

EDWIN McCLELLANA ScenefromSoseki'sMeian

Abstract:Thisessay describes S6seki's darkvision of modernJapanese ociety,which he sees as becoming increasinglydominatedby a materialisticandma-nipulativebourgeoisie. In this context, it presentsa translationwith commen-taryof one of the most memorablescenes in the novel Meianwheretwo youngmen, former classmates-one an aloof, conventional,middle-classcompanymanandtheotherapoor,embittered, truggling ournalist-end upin a barandengage in a conversation hatconsists mostly of thejournalist'sdrunken iradeagainstthe injusticesdoneby the bourgeoisieto the poor,and which is listenedto with little interestby his more affluentcompanion.S6seki shows no markedsympathyfor either, for he sees both as productsof what is finally a societywithout muchpossibilityof love or kindness.

In an introductory essay on S6seki published almost 40 years ago, and inthe later version of it that became part of a book,' I left Meian out of mydiscussion of Soseki's major works; I thought it a technically accomplishedwork but too much a display of that technical mastery he had acquiredthrough his all-too-brief career as a novelist. It was an ill-judged decisionon my part, to ignore what so many more mature students of Soseki believedwas not only his finest work, but probably the great modern Japanese novel.While I still have some serious reservations about Meian, I believe thatI seriously misjudged it. I still suffer moments of considerable depressionand a sense of oppressive tedium when rereading some of the passages.Now, however, I am more and more aware of the brilliance of S6seki's lan-guage and of the precision with which he examines the inner thoughts of his

This is the text of the firstAndrew MarkusMemorialLecture,given at the UniversityofWashington n May 1998. A preliminaryversionof this paperwas presentedas the lecture attheAnnualDinnerof theAssociatesof the Edwin0. Reischauer nstituteatHarvardUniversityin October1997.1. "An Introductiono Soseki," HarvardJournalof AsiaticStudies,Vol. 22 (December1959), pp. 150-208.107Journalof JapaneseStudies,25:1? 1999 Society forJapaneseStudies

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Journalof JapaneseStudiescharactersas they confront one anotherand engage in destructiveor self-destructiveconversations hat areintensely manipulative, elf-serving,andneverfree fromgreedor malice orpassionatedesireto controlthe other, fnot for personalgainthenmerelyfor the sake of controlling hatotherper-son. There s a kind of madness hroughoutmost of thebook,whichthroughthe tension that comes with it strangelyrelieves the sense of tedium andeven lifts the readerout of themediocrityof meredepression.The madnessis certainlynot in Soseki, but in the ugly middle- or upper-middle-classworldof lateMeijiandearlyTaishoTokyo.Itis in hisvision of thismadnessthatI find Soseki'suniquebrilliance,his kindof politicalawareness hatisso rareamong Meiji novelists and overall more complex than even MoriOgai'sor FutabateiShimei'sor TokudaShusei's.A Japanese tudentonce said to me that whenreadingMeian she some-times had theuncanny eeling she wasreading n a translatedanguage.Herperceptionsuggests the originalityandanalyticalcomplexityof the narra-tive passages that commenton the motivesand the unconsciousurgesbe-hind the wordsbeing spokenand the innerresponsesof the one being spo-ken to. Layerafterlayerof intended and unintendedmeaningis describedby thenarrator, ndin thatdescription hemanipulativeness f thespeakersbecomes so psychologicallycomplex that the readermuststrugglethrougha maze of unfamiliarvocabularyandconstruction,of metaphors hat seemso alien in Japanese,until one begins to yearnfor the grace, accessibility,andtherhythmsof Soseki'sproseof even theimmediatelyprecedingnovel,Michikusa Grasson theWayside,1915).Inthe 1994 Iwanamiedition,thenovel is 685 pageslong.For600 pages,it takes place in Tokyo, and by far the larger partof this is takenup bydialogue,with much of the prosethatinterruptshe conversationsdevotedto commentaryon whatis being said andminuteandrevealingdescriptionof the gesturesandfacial expressionsof the speakers.Afterthat,in the last85 pages, the readeris at last freed from the claustrophobic nteriorsofTokyo when the main male character,Tsuda, goes to an unnamedhotspringsresort n the mountains o recuperate fteranoperation.The reader'srelief is short-lived,however, for Soseki died before he could finish thenovel, in 1916.Let me briefly describe the more importantcharacters n the novel.Tsudais portrayedas a handsomeman,presumablya universitygraduate;he is 30 andhas recentlymarriedOnobu,in herearly20s, niece-in-lawofMr.Okamoto,who is a friendof Tsuda'semployer,Mr.Yoshikawa,who inturnknows Tsuda'sfather.Both Tsuda'sfatherandOnobu's ive in Kyoto,thoughTsuda's fatheris a Tokyo man by birth.There is anothermiddle-aged couple, the Fujiis. Mr. Fujii is Tsuda'suncle and is acquaintedwithMr. Okamoto.Thereis also Tsuda'ssister, Ohide,who livedwiththeFujiiswhen going to school in Tokyoandis very close to them. She is a beautyandis married o a richplayboy,Hori,who hadpickedherfor herlooks.

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McClellan:MeianThe circle of friends,acquaintances,andrelations form a kind of con-

trollingor interferingworldfrom which the young couple who are the cen-tralfiguresof the novel, TsudaandOnobu,can hardlyhope to escape. It isa bourgeoisworld wheremoneyandthepowerthatmoneybrings shapetherelationshipsbetween brotherandsister,betweenson, daughter,andfather,betweenfatheranduncle,between Tsuda and his employer,Mr.Yoshikawa,and even morefrighteningly,betweenTsuda and the bored,childless Mrs.Yoshikawa.One can say thatthey are all middleclass, butthattermcoversall mannerof creaturesbig andsmall, andthere is a lot of devouringgoingon here.Mrs.Yoshikawa indsin Tsuda,herhusband'shandsomeandrespectfulemployee, a kind of pet she can frightenandcoddle at will. Tsudais con-stantly on guardwith her, gauging her mood with a mixture of extremeshrewdnessand sweaty uncertainty.She is intelligentandequally shrewd,and can see throughTsuda without effort.But for her,like anddislike havelittle to do with self-respector the lack of it in her plaything,and she haschosenmore or less to like Tsuda.Tsuda's father,formerly a fairly successful civil servant now turnedlandlord n his retirement, s a friendof Mr.Yoshikawa.But this does notmakeTsudaa social equalof the Yoshikawas-which he mighthave beenin a more secure world-for thesimplereasonthat his father sn'tasrich asYoshikawa,andhe himselfcan hardlymake ends meet, especiallywhenhisfather urnsmean on him andrefuses to send himextraspending money.Just how muchmoney matters o Tsudahimself over and above its ca-pacityto keep one comfortablebecomes apparentwhen we learn thatatthetimeof his marriage o Onobuhe haddeliberatelymisled her abouthis fam-ily's financialstatus,thusinevitablycomplicating heirrelationship.Onobuappearsa strongerpersonthanTsuda,and Soseki makes clearthat,for her,it is her husband'sove that mattersaboveeverythingelse. Butmoney becomes the issue in their lives for much of the novel that Sosekihas left us, for in the worldshe has been broughtup in andhas growninto,the people aroundher have made money an inseparablepartof every as-pect of theirrelationships,so that even if she herself is not at heart avari-cious, as some otherstoo in herworld arenot, she mustrely on moneyandother materialpossessions to win or at least surviveher bitterskirmisheswith her sister-in-lawOhide and Mrs. Yoshikawa,who have both takenadislike to her.In Michikusa,the largely autobiographical ovel thatprecededMeian,one of the main themes is the way people try to possess others,includingchildren,by giving themthings,or try to be repaidfor things they claim tohavegiven in thepast, includinglove. InMichikusa,giving andtakinggiftsof one kind or anotherbecomes also a metaphor or stavingoff decay anddeath.Mrs.Yoshikawa,a plumpandsomehowoverpoweringly exualperson,

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Journalof JapaneseStudiesin fact does enjoy possessing others.She had before Tsuda'smarriage oOnobu been responsiblefor bringingTsuda and anotheryoung woman,Kiyoko, together,andTsuda,withMrs. Yoshikawa'sblessing,hadcome totake for grantedthat he and Kiyoko were to get married.But suddenly,withoutwarning,Kiyokohadleft Tsudaandmarriedanotherman,Seki. Itwas soon afterthis that Tsuda married he niece-in-lawof Mr. Okamoto,Mr.Yoshikawa's riend.The Yoshikawashad acted as sponsorsof the mar-riage. But despitethis seeming assuranceof herapproval,Mrs.Yoshikawahas come to dislike Onobu,partly,no doubt,because of her assertivenessandexceptional ntelligence.

The marriage s not a badone, butit is marredby Tsuda'smoney prob-lems andby his inabilityto ceasebeinghauntedby thememoryof Kiyoko'sdesertionof him. Onobuhas never been told of her husband's arlieraffair,but suspects thatsomethingof the sort had happenedand that it is beingkept a secret from her by Tsuda,his sister,his uncle and aunt,and Mrs.Yoshikawa. t is indeed a conspiracy,and Onobu s tormentedby hersenseof its presence.Very soon after Tsuda'soperationMrs. Yoshikawa nforms him thatKiyokohas had a miscarriageand has gone to a certainhot springsresortto recuperate.WouldTsudanot want to go therehimself, she asks. Itwouldhelp his recovery,and wouldhe also not like to see Kiyokoagain?And ofcourse,she will give himthemoneyto payfor thetrip.It is a wickedlittleplot-the motives behindwhichSoseki leaves for usto imagine-and what is even worse is thatit does not take Tsudalong todecideto acceptMrs. Yoshikawa's ffer.Onobu, gnorantof Kiyoko'sexis-tence and, of course, of her expected presenceat the resort,insists on ac-companyingherhusbandon the trip,but is finallycoaxed into stayingbe-hind in Tokyo.The last partof the novel, then,describes Tsuda'sarrivalat the resort,somehow another-worldly, ven ghostlyscene, and his subsequent ncoun-ter in a darkcorridorof the inn with Kiyoko, who is shocked to findhimstaringat her fromthe bottom of a flightof stairs andrushesbackinto herroom. Havingregainedher calm by the following morning,she agreestosee him in her room. Thatis where S6seki leaves us. It is unclearhow hemeantto finish his story.In thisbourgeoisworld,that s, in the context of Soseki'sdescriptionofit, Mrs. Yoshikawa'smachinationsor Tsuda'sacquiescence,or Mr. Yoshi-kawa's arrogantuse of his power, or Tsuda'ssister Ohide'scapacity forhatredand resentmentof her own brotherand his wife Onobu,her use ofmoney in her attempt o subjugate hem,begin to seem not so horrid.Formost of the people in the novel, there s littlepersonalmorality, ittle senseof standards o live up to independentof pride of place or fear of losingone's place. There is hardly any humilityor generosityof spirit;there is

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McClellan:Meianconstantwatchfulness,constantquestioningof others'motives,and if thereis one rarequalityfor which one can admireOnobu,it is herconviction-even thoughnow married-that there is thepossibilityof beingtruly ovedby her husband.In most other respects, however, she is a prettyruthlesswoman. How else would she survive,given the people that surroundher?Throughoutmuchof Soseki'scareer,he could be counted on to give usat least some comic relief-and he could be very funnywhenhe wantedtobe-but I have no recollection of everlaughingwhenreadingortranslatingKokoroor Michikusa,and Meian would offer the translatorno chance ofexercising what comic talent he or she might possess. In otherwords, hislast three novels are very darkindeed, and if there is any light in them, Ihave not noticedit.

Soseki's relentlessly pessimistic examination of the modern middleclass in Tokyoallowshardlyanyintrusionby membersof otherclasses. Theimplicationhere is thatfor him, the others don'tparticularlymatter.Thereis the occasionalcomic barberor the absent-mindedpriestin Kusamakura(TheThree-CorneredWorld,1907), funnypeople aplenty-fringe academ-ics andsuch-in Wagahaiwa nekode aru (I Am a Cat, 1905-7),provincialplottersandclimbers who are classic figuresof comedy in Botchan(1907),and of course the workingclass in Kofu(The Miner, 1908); but these be-come rarerand rareras we get towardthe laterpartof Soseki's careeranddisappearaltogetheras remindersof otherordersof existenceagainstwhichthe overwhelmingly present middle class can be measured or measurethemselves.And what of the aristocracy?The questionis whetherthey existed forSoseki as a class of any consequence in Japan, and more importantly,whetherthey existed at all in reality.Of course therewere lots of peoplewith titles, but were theirgarden parties,for example, any less tackythanthe one described in Soseki's Nowaki(AutumnWind, 1907), whereTaka-yanagi,the shabbilydressed,almostpennilessuniversitygraduate,wandersaboutalone andignored,overhearing ichbusinessmenandtheirsonssneer-ing atotherswhohad come to theparty n thewrongsorts of Western ormalclothes, or comparingnotes on Egyptiancigarettesor Havanacigars thatcould cost their smokersas muchmoney per day as Takayanagi'smonthlyincome?Therearepeoplein Soseki'snovels who arebothprivilegedby birthandnice, thatis, people who are civil. But they arevery few. There is the Sakaifamily living on high groundbehindSosuke's house in the novelMon (TheGate, 1911). Mr.Sakaiis Sosuke'slandlord.His family beforetheRestora-tion were substantialhatamoto, and presumablythey were one of thoselucky upper-crustretainers of the Shogunatewho had managedto keepsome of theirproperty n Edo.Theyaretrulyone of thepleasantest amilieswe find in Soseki's fiction and utterly convincing. They are pleasant-

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Journalof JapaneseStudieslooking, like each other very much, laugh a lot (but not in the way Mr.Yoshikawaaughswhenentertaining uestsbetweenacts in a kabuki heaterrestaurant), nd are very welcoming to Sosuke whom they recognizeas anice man despite his shabby-genteelstyle of life and his obvious loss ofstatus due to some misfortune.Such people as the Sakais are not easy toportray n fiction (apparentlynot for Japanesenovelists, anyway),but So-seki gets themjust right.They are urbaneand at the same time kind andstraightforward;hey have values that have no meaningfor such as thosewho monopolizethe stagein Meian.Anotherfamily thatcomes to mind in this context are the Munechikasin Gubijinso RedPoppy,1908).Heretoo, thefamily-consisting of father,son, anddaughter-find each otherattractive nd areabsolutelyat ease witheach other.TheyoungMunechikahas failed his foreignserviceexam twicebut is quitecheerfulabout t, as is his father.Whenhe finallydoes passit onhis thirdtry,he goes up to his fatherto tell him the good news, thenpointsto his own shapeless,oversize suitway pastitsprimeandsayswith elaboratecourtesythat,as a youngdiplomatdestined to be sentabroad,he must withall respectreturn thewordhe uses is go-henno,or "honorable eturn")hevenerablehand-me-down o his father, ts rightfulowner. But when the fa-therpondersaloud whetherhe himself could startwearingthe suit again,even the lighthearted oungMunechika s aghast.2Such people become rarer oward the laterpartof Soseki's careeranddisappearentirelyby the time we get to Meian-though Kiyoko, Tsuda'sformersweetheart,may have provedto be such a person,a personwhosestandards omehowwere notso materialistic,whose valuescould transcendwhat was immediatelyself-serving,but we don'tknowfor sure becauseweneverget to know her.By theirdisappearance,Soseki surelysuggeststhatthe ownershipof Tokyo,if not the rest of Japan, s in the hands of a muchharsherbreed.If the Sakais and the Munechikasaren't n Meian to remind us of theexistence of benevolenceandcivility amongthe affluent,of thecapacitytojudge anotherquiteindependentlyof thatother'susefulnessorpowerto dodamage,thereis still anintruderrom the outerfringewho, becausehe hasnothingto lose, makesan appearancen four memorablescenes to say ex-actly how mean and nasty he thinks Tsuda'sworld is. He is a disquietingfigure,shabby,unclean,full of hate andanger, eedingon whateverdiscom-fort or fear he can inflicton Tsuda or even his wife Onobu,who reallyhasdone nothingto this man to deserve his animosity,except the fact of herbeing of thebourgeoisie.His nameis Kobayashi,a descendantof sortsof Takayanagin themuchearliernovel Nowaki.They are both educated.We know thatTakayanagi

2. The scene I have summarizeds in Chapter16 of Gubijinso.

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McClellan:Meianwentto college with his rich friendNakano,the manwho invites him to thedreadfulgardenparty.And fromcertaincasualreferenceswe infer thatKo-bayashialso went to college with Tsuda.At any rate,bothTakayanagiandKobayashihave come frompoor backgrounds,both makeprecarious ivingsby doing odd-jobeditorialandfringe literarywork,both sufferfrom a deepsense of havingbeen betrayedby society-in otherwords,theireducationand theirintelligencehavegot themnowhere, heyhave no sense of belong-ing, andtheyhate themselves almost as much as theyhatetheundeservedlymore fortunate.As Soseki sees them-and I would say that no Japanesenovelist of the time conceived them with quite the same vividness-theyarevictims, orphansreally,who aredangerousbecausetheyhavereasontohate othersandhave little reason to like themselves.

Kobayashi s regularlyat theFujiis'housedoinghumble iterarychoresfor Mr.Fujii,Tsuda'suncle, a kind of professional argufierwho writes so-cial commentaryandsuch, lamentingthe moral and intellectualcorruptionof the times. He is not a badman,butnot veryattractive.His wife is a tired,aging person,who smiles knowinglyandresignedlyto herself most of thetime. They are marvelouslydrawncharactersand, alas, not very uplifting.Kobayashi's ister Okinlives withthem,as someonewho is betweena wardand a maid. The Fujiisaretryingto arrangea marriage or herat their ex-pense, which is a kindthingto do, but given their hardenedcircumstances,themarriage s boundto be a prettyshabbyaffair.Theonly nice thingaboutKobayashi s that he caresa greatdeal abouthis sisterandhatesto have toleave herbehind n Japanwhen he leaves for Korea o work foranewspaper.Thereis nojob he can findin Japan hat will pay him enough,andexile tothe colonies is his only hope for survival.We firstencounterhimfairlyearlyin the novel attheFujiis'housewhenTsudagoes thereto informhis uncle andaunt-in-lawof his decision to havesurgerydoneon his hemorrhoidsn a few days. Kobayashi s wearinga newsuit, a three-pieceaffairmade of roughhomespunstuff. He had seen onelike it in a department tore window and,notingthatit was onlyY26 madeto measure,hadgone in andorderedone. "Terribly heap,don'tyouthink?"he says. "Of course, I've no idea how it looks to a fellow with your up-market astes, but it's good enoughfor me." He has also boughthimself anew pair of shoes, gaudy brown ones that Tsuda had noticed with somedisapprovalwhenentering hevestibule of thehouse.Dinner s served.Tsuda,because of thesurgery o come,has to eatbreadof thekindthatis sold only in suchneighborhoodsas the one theFujiislivein, the kindthat turnsgluey and sticks to the roof of the mouththe momentyou take a bite.When the ordealis at last over, Tsuda and Kobayashi eave the housetogether,and now follows one of those scenes by Soseki that will alwayshauntme. The following is my own translation,withcommentary:

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McClellan: Meian"But you just had a drinkat the Fujiis'. Are you needing anothersosoon?""Look,that was hardlywhatyou would call drinking.""But I distinctlyheardyou sayingyou'dhadenough.""That'sbecauseI didn'twantto get drunk n front of Mr. and Mrs.Fujii.I couldn'tsay anythingelse. But to be given that small an amountto drinkis in fact worse foryourhealththannotdrinkingatall. I haveto get decentlydrunknow to counter he ill effect of thatteasingmy system got earlier."He was in a mood touse any outlandishargument o force Tsuda tojoinhim.Findinghimmore and more of a nuisanceTsudafinallysaid with some

asperity,"Andyou'reofferingto pay,I suppose?""I wouldn'tmind,"Kobayashireplied."And whereareyou proposing o go?""Anywherewill do. An oden-yawould be perfectlyall rightwith me."Theywalked down the hill in silence.To get to theirrespectivehomes directlyTsuda would turnrightat thebottomandKobayashiwouldgo straighton. Butas Tsuda, ntending o partgracefully, ouchedthe brimof his hatKobayashibroughthis face close andas thoughpeering througha hole said, "I'll go thatway too."Strungalong that street for two or three blocks were places offeringdrinksandlightmeals. Inaboutthe middle of thisneighborhoodKobayashisuddenly stopped beside a cozy-looking bar-likeestablishment, ts glassdoorlit brightby the lights inside."This looks fine. Let'sgo in.""Idon't wantto," said Tsuda."I'm sorry, but we won't find the kind of high-class place you likearoundhere,so let's settle for thisone.""I'mill, remember.""Nevermind.I'll accept responsibility or yourstate of health,so don'tworry.""Youcan'tbe serious I don'twantto go in.""Youdon'thave to worryaboutyourwife, you know. I'll explainevery-thingto hernicely."Not wantingto waste any more time with Kobayashi,Tsudastarted owalk awayquickly.But in no time at all he foundKobayashimarchingbe-side him, shoulderto shoulder,and heard him say, in a tone moresubduedand serious than before, "Is the idea of drinkingwith me thatdistastefulto you?"On hearingthese wordsTsuda,to whom the idea was indeedthat dis-

tasteful,stoppedimmediatelyandgave a replythattotallycontradictedhisinclination:"All right,let's havea drink."I find this scene brilliant. It is very Soseki. I can't say exactly why, buthis walking-and-talking scenes are among the most memorable right fromhis earlier novels down to this very last one. The outdoor surroundings per-

haps do something to the speakers' voices, giving them a special poignancy,3. Sosekizenshu(Tokyo:IwanamiShoten, 1994), Vol. 11,pp. 102-6.

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Journalof JapaneseStudiesor to the walking figures, making them vulnerable despite their heartinessor cruelty or perverseness. And I think it is great writing when unexpectedlyKobayashi asks that last question, "Is the idea of drinking with me thatdistasteful to you?" It is like a sudden change to the minor key in somemusic, when we find ourselves being unexpectedly moved.There are only five or six people sitting inside, but the small place seemscrowded. And none of them seems to be a person of any kind of social status(Soseki's own term). At the top of the scale are men who, with their nattyattire and swagger, look like low yakuza or foremen, and at the bottom issomeone who looks like a rag picker and another who is clearly a commonlaborer. Let me now return to Soseki's own words:

Pouringsake into Tsuda'scup Kobayashi aid: "It'sgood to be in a ple-beianplacelikethis,don'tyou think?"Tsuda ooked withspecialawarenessat Kobayashi'sconspicuouslynew suit, which seemed to makea mockeryof Kobayashi'sremark.But Kobayashihimself seemed not to see the in-congruity."Unlikeyou," he said, "my sympathiesarewith the lowerclasses." Hethen looked around he room with a fraternalairandsaid, "Look at them.They all have better faces than those of the upperclasses." Lackingtheenergyto respondto Kobayashi's emarkor to examine the faces he merelystaredat his companion.Kobayashiretreatedmmediately."Well,at least theydo thingswith a certainstyle.""So can the upperclasses."

"Maybe,but the styles are different."Tsudadid not deign to ask whatthe differencewas. Unabashed,Koba-yashicontinued o refillhis sakecup. "Youdespisethesepeople,don'tyou?Rightfrom the startyou considerthemundeservingof any kindof sympa-thy."Then withoutwaitingfor Tsuda'sreplyhe turned owarda youngmansitting at a table across the aisle and said "Isn't that right?"The youngman-he looked like a milkman-much surprisedby the questionthrownat him by a stranger wisted his muscularneck to take a brief look at him.Kobayashiheld out his hand with his sake cup in it. "Anyway,have adrink."The young mangrinnedsheepishly.Unfortunately, e was well beyondKobayashi's each,andclearlythinking hatit wasn'tworth his while to getupto get theproffereddrinkremained eated,still grinning.Kobayashinev-erthelessseemed satisfied.Withdrawinghe cuphe was holdingandbring-ing it up to his mouth,he addressedTsudaagain. "You see whatI mean?There sn'tone snobamongthe whole lot of them."4What is remarkable about Soseki's conception of Kobayashi is the ironyof his condition, where he is rejected by Tsuda, who sees through his senti-

mentality about the lower classes, and is ignored, albeit benevolently, by amember of the lower classes who instinctively knows that he is being pa-4. Ibid.,pp. 107-9.

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McClellan: Meiantronized by the gent in the new suit. The new suit is probably appalling, butthe milkman doesn't know that. When I talk about Soseki's political acumenas a novelist, I mean such a scene as this, which goes far beyond the scopeof other Japanese novels of the time. Class as an issue for the novelist isalmost a nonproblem in the study of modern Japanese literature-at leastin the West-partly because those who study it shy away from it-exceptwhen it concerns the samurai, chonin, the hyakusho, and such-and partlybecause it is indeed a question whether such a thing truly exists in Japan asan entity to be examined by a writer of S6seki's complexity. Anyway, it isremarkable how so often readers of Meian seem to see all kinds of otherimplications in it, when surely it is more than anything a novel about mod-ern society and survival in it. True, Soseki did go to a Zen temple in Ka-makura, and true, he did write a lot of meditative Chinese-style poetry, butthat doesn't tell us very much about Meian. Except of course it is more thanpossible he wanted to escape from the awful world of his own making.I want now to bring us back to the bar. A moment or two after the inci-dent with the milkman a small man in an Inverness coat comes in and sitsdown at a table somewhat removed from where our two friends are sitting.The Inverness coat, by the way, is not the long kind we see Sherlock Holmeswearing in the movies, but an abbreviated version that seems to have cov-ered little more than the wearer's shoulders. S6seki writes:

Still wearinghis cloth cap with the brimpulled down low he gave therooma good look-aroundand thenpulledout from his pocketa small,thin,notebook. He openedit andstared at the page, whetherreadingsomethingor in deep thought t was difficultto say.He stayedexactly as he was whenhe sat down, not caringto remove either his cape or his cap;but he closedhis notebook soon enoughandputit firmlyback in his pocket.He then tooka sip from his cup andbegan surreptitiouslyo look overeach of his fellowcustomers;andeverytime he movedhis eyes fromone to the nexthe wouldbring his hand out from underthe miniaturecape and stroke his scantymustache.The two who hadbecome mildlycuriousabout the man and were look-ing at him suddenly found themselves being stared at in return.Theyquicklylookedawayand facedeach other.KobayashieanedslightlytowardTsuda andsaid, "Do you know what he is?"

Retaininghis normalpostureandshowingsome disdainfor thequestion,Tsudasaid, "HowwouldI know?"Kobayashi owered his voice still moreandsaid, "He'sa detective."Tsuda saidnothing.A strongerdrinker hanhis companion,he was morein control of himself. Silently he picked up his cup and drankit empty.Kobayashi mmediatelyrefilledit. "Takea good look athis eyes."Tsudagave a faintsmile and at lastanswered."Ifyou go on berating heupperclasses in yourindiscriminateway, they'll mistakeyou fora socialist.So be a little more careful.""A socialist?"Kobayashicriedout,andstaredpugnaciouslyat the man

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Journal of Japanese Studiesin the Invernesscoat. "Don'tmake me laugh.HoweverI may seem, I am adecent, law-abidingsympathizerof the downtrodden. t'syou people withyourvain, self-satisfied,uppityways who arereally the badones, not me.Justaskyourselfhonestlywho should be dragged o thepolice station,youor me."

Since the manin the cloth capjust sat therelookingat the table,Koba-yashi had no choice but to tauntTsuda. "I supposeyou neverthoughtoftreating hese laborers ittinghere as humanbeings,butlet me tell you...."He stoppedto look around or likely examplesof whathe meant,butalastherewere no longerlaborers o be seen anywhere n thebar.Undauntedherattledon. "You'veno idea how much morenobletheyare,in all theirsim-plicity,than the likes of you and the detective. It'stheir misfortune hat thebeautyof theirhumanityhas to be covered with thedustof poverty.That'sall it is. WhatI mean is they are dirty simply becausethey can't affordtohavea bath. Don'tyou daresneer at them."The tiradeseemednow to be morein defenseof Kobayashihimselfthanof the poor in general,butTsuda,fearing possible publicembarrassment,was carefulnot to get embroiled n an argumentwith him. Kobayashi, tillin pursuitof Tsuda,continued:"You don't say so, but I know you don'tbelieve any of the thingsI say. It shows on yourface. All right,I'll try tomakethingsclearer oryou. You've readRussiannovels,haven'tyou?"Havingneverreadone, Tsudaremained ilent."It's somethinganyonewho has read Russiannovels, especially Dos-toevsky's,shouldknow. And that s no matterhow low-bornor uneducateda personmightbe, thereare times when from thatperson'smouthwill pourout like waterfrom a springthe purest,the most sincerefeelings, feelingsthatwill makeyou weep withgratitude.Do you thinkDostoevskyis lyingwhen he tells you that?""Icouldn'tsay,havingneverreadhim.""WhenI askedFujii-sensei,he said it was all a fraud.All those loftysentimentsspilling out of vulgar,crudevessels, he said, it's just a clever,calculated rickto get an emotionalresponsefrom the reader.And becausethe trick worked for Dostoevsky,all these imitatorsstarted o appear,oneafteranother,makingwhat was a mere device cheaperthanit ever was. Imyself don'tthink so at all; and when sensei says things like that, I getangry.He simplydoesn'tunderstandDostoevsky.He mayhave livedlongerthanI have, buthis yearshavebeen spent only with books. I may be a lotyounger,but .. ." He stopped,as thoughhe couldn'tfind the words anymore;andthen his face twisted with pent-upemotion,he started o weep,lettingfall largeteardrops n the table cloth.There is so much going on here, it is difficult to know where to begin

talking about it. Much of it verges on comedy, and we see Kobayashi as apretentious clown, defenseless against the silence and haughtiness of Tsuda.We are even on Tsuda's side when he says simply he's not read a word of

5. Ibid.,pp. 109-12.

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McClellan:MeianDostoevsky.And we don't dismiss Tsuda'suncle Fujiiwhen he calls Dos-toevsky a superiorkind of trickster.Indeed,we find Fujii perhapsa littlebetter than we had given him creditfor, thatis, he is not merely a crankymoralist.I do thinkthere s conscious ironyhere in S6seki'sintroduction fDostoevsky.It remindsme of the beginningof a shortstory by the EnglishwriterA. E. Coppard,"Arabesque-The Mouse,"written n 1921: "Inthemain street amongst tall establishmentsof martand worship was a highnarrow house pressedbetween a coffee factory and a bootmaker's. t hadfourflightsof dim echoing stairs,and at the top, in a room that was full ofthe smell of driedapplesandmice, a man in the middleage of life had satreadingRussiannovels until he thoughthe was mad."Afterhavingsaid all this, I mustalso say thatin the course of the eve-ning, Kobayashibegins to emergethroughthe clownishness as a trulysadperson.In otherwords,there is a kind of Russian contradiction n the waySosekiportraysKobayashi.He is ridiculouswhen he lets fall largeteardropsinto his cup. He has become a character traightout of Dostoevsky as Mr.Fujiiwould say,drunk,self-pitying, weepingfor the downtrodden,but alsoa deluded devotee and victim of that master iteraryconjurer.Butwhat thenis Tsuda,Sosekiasksus, thisnearlyaridman,so haughty owardKobayashi,yet so meek towardhis employerMr. Yoshikawaand the manipulativeandpossessive Mrs.Yoshikawa;which is the moredemeaning,he asks us, Ko-bayashi'spatheticclaimto kinshipwithDostoevsky,or Tsuda'scarelessad-mission of total ignoranceof the writer? It is not Tsuda'signorancethatbespeakshis kind of poverty, t is his contempt.They at last leave the bar afterKobayashihas explainedwhy he boughtthenew suit: he's got ajob with a Japanesenewspaper n Koreaand he willbe leaving soon.

Itwasn'thatate,but hestreetsntheautumn ightwereunexpectedlyquiet.They ouldhear hestreetcarsunning,making special ortofsoundone didnothearduringheday.The wo dark igures,worked nbydiffer-entmoods,walked longsidehestream,tilltogether."When reyougoing oKorea,hen?""Perhapshenyouarestill nthehospital fter heoperation.""Sosoon?""Notnecessarily. won'tknow or sureuntilFujii-sensei asseen theeditor-in-chiefncemore.""Whatwon'tyou knowfor sure-when you areleaving,or whetheryou'reeavingatall?""Yes,well...."Kobayashi asbeing oovague.Showing omore nterestn thematter,Tsudastarted o walkahead."As a matterof fact,"Kobayashi ddedquickly, Ireallydon'twant ogo."

6. TheCollected Works fA. E. Coppard New York:Knopf, 1951),pp. 71-72.

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Journalof JapaneseStudies"Areyou being toldby my uncle to go, then?""Ohno, it's not that.""Thendon'tgo, that'sall."It was an obvious point to make and, to a person seemingly much inneed of sympathy,nothingless thana cruel thrust.Afterthey had taken afew steps, Kobayashi aid "Tsuda, 'm lonely."Tsuda said nothing.They walked on in silence. Between the sounds of

passingstreetcars hey could hearthe murmurof the sparsestreambesidethemas it disappearednto theblacknessunder hebridge beyond.7YALE UNIVERSITY

7. Sosekizenshi, Vol. 11,pp. 116-17.

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edwin mcclellan a scene from soseki's meian.pdf

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