Had lunch in the middle of Sagami Bay surrounded by a myriad of sea birds - what the Japanese call ume-neko (sea cats). A myriad, I believe, is 10,000 - what the Japanese call man, so 10,000 is ichi-man - one myriad. One million would be 100 myriads. They were also having lunch, the birds.
The sea was flat calm but we got as far as Oiso, opposite the hotel where I'd had so much fun the other day going down water chutes with girls in bikinis - although regrettably not at the same time. From the calm of the bay, the layers of hills behind and beyond - the Tanzawa ridge, Hakone, Izu as far south as Ito, were a perfect study in greenish-blues and greys. No wind though, so we motored back. Ended up with H outside a bar run by a professional female snowboarder in Enoshima, singing our favourites from Fiddler on the Roof and the Sound of Music, well, the first lines thereof - the rest being babble-doobie-doo... . Then tried teaching a somewhat bemused lady a few dance steps on the pavement by the train station.
Not Waving But Drowning
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Stevie Smith
