A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

Drifting 21}
wind became worse, and the swells grew higher
— and I prayed for help to Jizo-Sama of Ogawa
all that night. . . . Lights? — yes, there were
lights in the water, but not many: the large
kind, that shine like candles. . . .
"At dawn the sea looked ugly, — a muddy
green ; and the waves were like hills ; and the
wind was terrible. Rain and spray made a fog
over the water ; and there was no horizon. But
even if there had been land in sight I could have
done nothing except try to keep afloat. 1 felt
hungry, — very hungry ; and the pain of the
hunger soon became hard to bear. All that day
1 went up and down with the great waves,
— ;
drifting under the wind and the rain ; and there
was no sign of land. 1 did not know where 1
was going: under that sky one could not tell
east from west.
" After dark the wind lulled ; but the rain still
poured, and all was black. The pain of the
hunger passed ; but 1 felt weak, — so weak that
1 thought I must go under. Then I heard the
voices calling me, — just as they had called me
the night before — : ' KoccU e koi ! — kocchi e
koi! ' . . . And, all at once, I saw the four men
of the Fukuju Maru, — not swimming, but
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