The young man was traveling alone at his whim with no particular destination in mind. He goes by train and takes a room and gets off at any direction that arouses his interest. One day he sees a lovely river from the train window. Gentle green hills line the meandering stream and below them lies a quiet, pretty little town with a stone bridge over the river. The train stops at the station and only the man gets off there. As soon as he alights, the train departs.
The town is utterly still, with no one to be seen. All the shops are shuttered, the town hall deserted. He goes to an empty hotel and rings a bell but no one comes out. Perhaps all the people are napping somewhere. Perhaps something caused all the people to abandon the town. In any case, the next train will not come until the following day. It is only ten thirty in the morning. So with no choice, he sets about to wander the town to kill time.
In fact, however, this is a town of cats. When the sun goes down, many cats cross the bridge to town - cats of all different kinds and colours, but much larger than ordinary cats. The young man is shocked at this spectacle. He runs to the bell tower at the center of the town and climbs to the top to hide. He sees the cats go about their business and opening offices. As night falls, soon more cats come and shop or handle administrative matters. They drink beer and play instruments and sing cat songs under the bright moonlight.
By sunrise, the cats are gone, and the town is deserted again. The young man climbs down, picks a hotel bed for himself and sleeps. When he gets hungry, he eats the cooked fish and milk left in the kitchen. At night, he hides himself in the bell tower and observes the cats until dawn. Train stops at the station before noon everyday, and he could've taken it to continue his journey and leave the creepy cat town, but he doesn't. He is probably the only human being who has ever been here.
On the night of the third day a hubbub breaks out in the square underneath the bell tower. "Hey, do you smell something human?" one cat says. "Now that you've mentioned it, I have smelled something funny the last few days", another chimes in, twitching his nose. "That's funny, no humans can get here, but let's follow the smell." The cats form into groups and search from top to bottom like vigilante bands. They have an excellent sense of smell and sharp claws and the man knows he is in
trouble if they find him.
Three cats climb to the top of the bell tower and sniff the air. "Strange, I smell a human, but there's no one here" one cat says. The cats are very puzzled, having seen no one, but decides to search
somewhere else. The man exhales in relief. He doesn't understand either, he was almost nose to nose with the cats in the small space. He raises his hands and sees it perfectly well - he wasn't invisible. Still, he decides to take the next train out. He couldn't stay there forever.
The next day, however, the morning train does not stop at the station. He watches it pass by without slowing down. There are passengers and the engineer seated at the control but it is as if the man transparent and the station does not exist. The sun begins to sink. He knows he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is a place where he is meant to be lost. It is a place far from the ordinary. And never again will the train stop at this station to bring him back.
-Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
The town is utterly still, with no one to be seen. All the shops are shuttered, the town hall deserted. He goes to an empty hotel and rings a bell but no one comes out. Perhaps all the people are napping somewhere. Perhaps something caused all the people to abandon the town. In any case, the next train will not come until the following day. It is only ten thirty in the morning. So with no choice, he sets about to wander the town to kill time.
In fact, however, this is a town of cats. When the sun goes down, many cats cross the bridge to town - cats of all different kinds and colours, but much larger than ordinary cats. The young man is shocked at this spectacle. He runs to the bell tower at the center of the town and climbs to the top to hide. He sees the cats go about their business and opening offices. As night falls, soon more cats come and shop or handle administrative matters. They drink beer and play instruments and sing cat songs under the bright moonlight.
By sunrise, the cats are gone, and the town is deserted again. The young man climbs down, picks a hotel bed for himself and sleeps. When he gets hungry, he eats the cooked fish and milk left in the kitchen. At night, he hides himself in the bell tower and observes the cats until dawn. Train stops at the station before noon everyday, and he could've taken it to continue his journey and leave the creepy cat town, but he doesn't. He is probably the only human being who has ever been here.
On the night of the third day a hubbub breaks out in the square underneath the bell tower. "Hey, do you smell something human?" one cat says. "Now that you've mentioned it, I have smelled something funny the last few days", another chimes in, twitching his nose. "That's funny, no humans can get here, but let's follow the smell." The cats form into groups and search from top to bottom like vigilante bands. They have an excellent sense of smell and sharp claws and the man knows he is in
trouble if they find him.
Three cats climb to the top of the bell tower and sniff the air. "Strange, I smell a human, but there's no one here" one cat says. The cats are very puzzled, having seen no one, but decides to search
somewhere else. The man exhales in relief. He doesn't understand either, he was almost nose to nose with the cats in the small space. He raises his hands and sees it perfectly well - he wasn't invisible. Still, he decides to take the next train out. He couldn't stay there forever.
The next day, however, the morning train does not stop at the station. He watches it pass by without slowing down. There are passengers and the engineer seated at the control but it is as if the man transparent and the station does not exist. The sun begins to sink. He knows he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is a place where he is meant to be lost. It is a place far from the ordinary. And never again will the train stop at this station to bring him back.
-Haruki Murakami, 1Q84
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