Bit by Bit…

THERE, IN THE TOWN where the rainbow never fades, nobody thought the way Sukab did. He set up a firefly farm. From top of the hill, his farm, located near the sea, seemed to give off light, like a spotlight. It was a yellowish green, or greenish yellow, phosphorescent beam. Tourists who just arrived and were strolling by the sea at night were usually amazed to see such an amazing light.

“What light is that?”

“Oh, that’s the light from Sukab’s firefly farm.”

“Firefly farm?”

“That’s right, firefly farm. Nobody in this town thinks the way he does.”

The species of fireflies that Sukab raised was not an ordinary one, but it was the kind from the nail clippings of Mandarin people. That was it. It was believed that Mandarin people always kept their nail clippings. When they died, the nail clippings were also buried. The following night, those small bits turned into fireflies, and they flew out, making the deep dark night in the graveyard bright. Fireflies around the graveyard looked so beautiful, so sweet, as the good heart of man that shines through the dark.

“Fireflies, venturing the woods of pain…”

Thus people usually heard Sukab singing lightly to his guitar in front of his farm. Tourists who were passing always dropped by because they were charmed by the yellowish green or greenish yellow light beaming to the sky, so like a column of light erected by archangels. Ships that passed far away on the sea used it as a signal, as some kind of special lighthouse.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, on the north is a column of light, which means we’re passing the town where the rainbow never fades. That yellowish green or greenish yellow light beaming to the sky comes from a firefly farm. For your information, if you do want to set up a firefly farm in your country, you should know that only fireflies from the nail clippings of dead Mandarin people can be that bright. The night after their burial, fireflies that come from the nail clippings kept during their whole life, from infancy to death, will fly out from the underground. Ladies and Gentlemen…”

*

It all began during a crisis, when life was so hard, and happiness became a rare thing. People suffered, and any hard work did not earn them anything at all. Sukab was thinking about all these when a firefly passed before his face, blinking, as if surrendering. Then Sukab snatched it, kept it in a small pill bottle, covered it with a patch of curtain net, and tied a rubber band around to secure it. All alone, deep in thought, he then meditated on the firefly, and realized how the insect gave a light in the dark. Suddenly, he forgot about his useless life.

That night he went to the graveyard of Mandarin people on the hillside. It was an old graveyard, underneath which were buried Mandarin people from the very far past. Years and years back, in the town where the rainbow never fades, Mandarin people had been hunted as if they were some kind of creature that should be exterminated and were not supposed to live on Earth. They were slaughtered like animals, leaving none, despite the fact that they were the ones who had furthered trade in that town. People said that when the massacre took place, the rainbow, that had never faded, for the first time in the history faded, and even disappeared. Only after people realized that they were wrong, and regretted what they had done, and performed a mass repentance ceremony, the rainbow reappeared. The rainbow that never fades was also another major attraction the town had. Tourists came to touch the rainbow, but of course they couldn’t touch anything because rainbow was not a wall, but light.

It was the story about those massacred Mandarin people that had made Sukab decide to move and live in that coastal town. He liked climbing up the hill where the genocide victims had been buried. There, he saw a thousand fireflies blinking in the dark, flying around like some dance from the dreamland.

“Perhaps, these are the fireflies that come from the nail clippings of dead Mandarin people,” he thought, “their brightness is not an ordinary light of fireflies, it’s an enlightening brightness.”

At first, Sukab only set a small table outside of his hut, and put five pill bottles, each containing a firefly that gave a brightness in the dark.

One of the passing tourists showed interest.

“What’s this?”

“They’re fireflies.”

“What’s a firefly?”

“A kind of small insect that usually flies around in the fields.”

“Aha! The one with a phosphorescent glow?”

“That’s it! Here they are.”

“Why are they sold?”

“Who knows if you are interested in buying them. You don’t have fireflies in Scandinavia, right? Besides, they’re not ordinary fireflies.”

Then Sukab told the story about Mandarin people’s nail clippings. It turned out that the story made people buy his fireflies, and Sukab could establish a firefly farm whose beam became a sky-supporting column. The coming of foreigners who were enchanted by that story finally saved the town from a prolonged economic crisis. Any merchandise related to the story was always sold out. Truly enough, in the town where the rainbow never fades there were various attractions that invited tourists, from those who came for surfing to those who visited sacred caves. However, since the economic crisis started to cause political riots and bloodshed everywhere, the number of tourists decreased. It was Sukab’s firefly farm that stood upright as the major industry to compete with those from other tourist towns, and in fact the seaside town where the rainbow never fades regained its power.

(to be continued)

still, translate by …. (drum roll ever longer) …. me….

Dearest Alina,

Attached with this letter is sunset, complete with its wind, roaring waves, a setting sun, and golden rays of light. Do they arrive safe and sound? Of course, like any sunset in any beach, it has birds, wet sand, silhouette of rocks, and maybe a boat passing off shore. There might be edible bivalves, colorful stones, and the sparks of bright light flickering on the seafoam, resembling dreams that always drive me to think about the things that I most probably do with you, although I know they will all end up as mere probabilities—only God knows when it will come true.

I’m sending this piece of sunset for you, Alina, in a tightly sealed envelope from far away, because I want to give something more than bare words. There are already too many words in this world, and words, indeed, don’t change a thing. I will not add to the innumerable words in the history of man culture. What for? Words are useless and forever in vain. In addition, who will listen to them these days? In this world, everybody is busy wording without ever listening to other people. They don’t care whether people listen to them or not. They don’t even care about their own words. This world is filled with meaningless words. Words are redundant and are not needed anymore. For every word, you can change its sense. From every sense, you can change its meaning. That is our world, Alina.

I’m sending you this piece of sunset, Alina, not words of love. I’m sending you a piece of gentle sunset with real reddish sky precisely in the state when I took it, when the sun almost sunk behind the horizon.

Sweet Alina, melancholy Alina,

Let me tell you how I got the sunset for you. One afternoon I was sitting all alone by the sea shore, looking at the world that’s comprised of time, watching how time and space live in alliance, creating the universe for my eyes. From the seashore, at the edge of earth, universe appeared as a stroke of golden and the sea was a liquid metal, but still the foam on the splashing waves was as white as cotton and the sky was purple and the wind humid and wet and the sand warm when I thrust my feet into it.

All of a sudden the sunset and light shuddered. Beauty suddenly struggled against time and suddenly you came into my mind. “Perhaps, this sunset is good for you,” I thought. So I severed the sunset before it was too late, cutting on its four sides and thrusting it in to my pocket. Hence the beauty would be eternal and I can present it to you.

After that I went home light-heartedly. I knew you would like it because I know that is the kind of sunset you’ve ever imagined for us. I know you’ve always dreamed about a long holiday, a long-distance trip, and probably a pair of deck chairs in the sunset in a beach, where we converse looking up high to the sky wondering whether this is all true or not. Now you can take the sunset anywhere.

When I was leaving that beach, I saw people come swarming. It turned out that they became furious because the sunset was gone. I saw a postcard-sized hole in the horizon.

Loveliest Alina,

All this has happened and the it will still be like this. I had reached my car when from among the crowd I saw someone pointing at me.

“He is the one who stole the sunset! I saw him grabbing the sunset!”

I saw people walking towards me. After judging from their manner, I got into my car and hit the accelerator.

“Get his plate number! Get his plate number!”

I shot right to the highway. I sped up without panic. I had made up my mind to give the sunset to you and only for you, Alina. No body should take it away from me. The golden rays of sunset were flaring in my pocket. I really worried because even though my car windows were dark, the rays were bright enough to shine through every breach in my car, so that my car darted with a brilliant shine on the asphalt and sky.

From the radio that I had turned on, I knew that news about the missing sunset had spread everywhere. On my car TV, I saw my portrait featured. Gosh! Only one sunset gone and they were that panicky. Couldn’t they just wait until tomorrow? What would happen if everyone took one sunset for their girlfriends? It might be the right time now to produce fake sunsets that you can sell in shops, packaged in a plastic bag and sold by roadside vendors. It’s time now for us to mass-produce sunsets so that child street vendors can sell them at crossroads. “Sunset! Sunset! Get three for one dollar!”

My car darted in the highway towards the downtown. I had to be careful because everybody was searching for me. Police sirens roared in every corner. The bright evening lights without the color of sunset made the golden light from inside my car not to prominent. And what’s more, in the downtown, not every people gives a damn whether the sunset is gone or not. In the city, life goes without time, regardless morning, noon, afternoon, or evening. So, it’s never important for them whether sunset is there or not. Sunset is only important for tourists who like taking pictures of the setting sun. Possibly, that was the only reason why police officers searched for the sun that I had with me.

Police sirens approached from behind. With a loudspeaker, a police officer gave a warning.

“Driver of gray metallic Porsche with a plate number SG 19658 A, stop your car. This is police. You’re under arrest for stealing the sunset. Although it is not against any law, but based on…”

I didn’t want to waste more time listening to this. So I just hit him in such a way that he was hurled away from the road. I sped up and jet pass other cars with agility. In a minute, the city became noisy with roaring police sirens. But I knew the ins and outs of the downtown, streets with colorful lights, dark alleys not listed in directory books, and secret sewers secured only for those who live underground. (to be continued…)

* Translated by… (drum rolls) … me