A Short Story by Kenji Miyazawa

The Ginkgo Nuts

Way up at the tiptop of the sky it was as cold as cold could be, as cold as a well-tempered
blade quenched in water.
The sky was still studded with stars, but the east was slowly assuming the soft, subtle hues of
a bellflower.
Under the dawn sky, at a height that birds rarely frequented even in the daytime, sharp
slivers of frost flew off toward the south, crinkling and crackling as they went. So transparent
was the air that the faintest sound from a certain ginkgo tree on a nearby hill could be clearly
heard.

The ginkgo nuts on the tree had woken from sleep at one and the same time, and immediately
their hearts leaped into their throats. Today was definitely the day for departure. They had
been expecting it for quite some time, and yesterday evening two crows had come by to
remind them that the time was indeed close at hand.
"I wonder if I won't get dizzy on the way down," one of the boy ginkgo nuts said.
"Just keep your eyes shut, that's all," said another.
"Oh, shoot! I forgot to fill my canteen," piped up a third.
"Along with the canteen, I'm taking along peppermint water. Mom says to sip some when
you're feeling down."
"I wonder why Mom didn't give some to me, too."
"That's what I'm saying, I'll give you some of mine. You shouldn't be thinking ill of Mom."
The tree the ginkgo nuts clung to was, in fact, their mother.
This year she had given birth to thousands of golden children. And today all of them were
preparing to set off on an adventure. Mother ginkgo was so saddened by the thought that she
had lost all her beautiful fan-shaped hair in the course of one night.
"I wonder where we'll be going," one of the girl ginkgo nuts murmured as she gazed up at the
sky.
"I have no idea," said another. "I don't want to go anywhere at all."
"I'll put up with anything, so long as I can stay with Mom," other girls chimed in, one after
another.
"But that's impossible. That's what the Wind has been saying, day after day."
"Oh, how horrible!"
"And we can't even stay together, so they say."
"That's true. I'd give up anything if it weren't so."
"Me, too. I've been so selfish up to now. I hope you'll forgive me."
"Oh, no. I'm the one who should be asking forgiveness."
The hued bellflowers in the eastern sky began to wither, and the white beams of the morning
sun grew ever stronger. One after another the stars began to fade.
At the very top of the tree, two boy ginkgos were talking. "Look, it's already light. How
wonderful! You know what I'm going to become? A golden star, that's what."
"Me, too. As soon as we jump, the North Wind will pick us up and sweep us up into the sky."
"I don't think it'll be the North Wind, though. The North Wind is kind of mean. It'll be the
crows, I figure."
"Yeah, you're probably right. It'll be the crows. The crows are really something. They can fly
so far away that you can't even see them anymore, and they don't even break a sweat. If we
ask them nicely, I bet they'll take both of us straight up into the pure blue sky, just like that."
"Let's ask and see. I can't wait."
Just a little further down the tree, two more boy ginkgo nuts were talking.
"First thing I'm gonna do is to visit the castle of the Apricot King. That's where I'll destroy the
monster that kidnapped his daughter, the beautiful princess. There should be a monster like
that around somewhere, shouldn't there?"
"Yeah, I bet there is. But don't you think it's a little risky? Monsters are totally humongous,
you know. A little snort would send little guys like us flying head over heels."
"But I've got a special little something, so I'm okay. Want to see it? Here, take a look."
"Why, it's a net made from Mom's hair!"
"That's right. She gave it to me, is what she did. If something really bad happens, she says to
hide inside it. So I'll just put the net in my pocket and go off to meet the monster. And when I
meet him, I'll say, 'You think you can swallow me? Nah, no way.' Then the monster gets really
mad and swallows me, just like that. Then when I'm in the monster's stomach, I'll get inside
the net, wrapping it all around me, ya see, and then I'll start messing up the monster's
stomach. Next, you know what? The monster gets typhus and dies. That's when I get out of
his stomach, rescue the Apricot Princess, carry her back to the castle and take her as my
wife."
"That sounds really great. And in that case, can I stay at the castle as your guest?"
"Sure, why not? I'll even give you half the country. But most important, every single day I'm
going to take a whole lot of sweets and other good things to give to Mom."
The stars had completely disappeared. The eastern sky was afire in white light. The trees
suddenly started rustling their leaves. It was almost time for the little ginkgo nuts to depart.
"My shoes are so small. They're killing me. I think I'll just go barefooted," said one of the
boys.
"Then let's trade. Mine are too big," said another.
"Okay, let's do that. Ahhh.... That feels so much better. Thanks."
Then a girl nut spoke up. "Oh, my goodness. For the life of me I can't find the new coat
Mother gave me."
"Oh, hurry, hurry! There's not much time left. Which branch did you leave your coat on?"
asked another.
"It's entirely escaped my mind."
"That's definitely not good. It's going to get awfully cold, you know. You've got to find it."
A boy could be heard saying, "Hey, look at this. Yummy looking bread, huh? See the raisins
sticking up their little heads. Here, put some in your bag. Make it quick, though. Old man sun
is about to make his appearance."
"Gee, thanks. Hey, what do you say? Shall we go together?"
"For Pete's sake, now I can't find my coat anywhere."
"If we go together, I can lend you my coat sometimes. If we freeze to death, we can freeze to
death together."
The eastern sky was burning white-hot and the air was beginning to shimmer. The mother
tree was standing stock-still, as if she were dead.
Suddenly there was a shaft of light like a golden arrow shooting through the air. Glittering
brilliantly, the ginkgo boys and girls were amazed at the sight.
Out of the north roared a wind as cold as arctic ice.
"Goodbye, Mom." "Goodbye, Mom." As they called out to their mother, the little ginkgo nuts
jumped from the tree all together, falling thick as autumn leaves.
The North Wind laughed. "So it's goodbye time again, is it?" So saying, he swept off into the
distance, his icy glass cape fluttering behind him.
The sun gleamed brilliantly in the eastern sky like a rare jewel, shining down on the mournful
mother tree and the little ginkgo nuts who had just set off on an adventure.