THE CAT OFFICE
By
Miyazawa Kenji
A
New Translation by Hayato Tokugawa
The following
short story, “Neko no Jimusho,” first appeared in an amateur literary
publication, Getsuyou, in 1926;
however, it was not formally published until 1986, when it was included in a
complete collection of Miyazawa’s works. The tale center on the daily
operations of a small office run by of all things, cats, and was a commentary
on workplace bullying and bureaucracy. While “Neko no Jimusho” is not one of
the author’s best known stories, it has been illustrated as a children’s
picture book several times, has been adapted in manga form, and there is also
an anime adaptation of the story.
Near a certain railroad station was the 6th
Office of the Ministry of Feline Affairs, which dealt primarily with inquiries
into feline history and geography. The clerks in the office all wore short
coats made of black satin, and were very well respected by everyone. As it
happened, any time that one of the clerks left his employment or had to retire
for some reason, every single one of the young cats in the area clamored to
take his position. Be that as it may, the number of clerks at the 6th
Office of the Ministry of Feline Affairs was always limited to four; so, of
those many cats who sought the position, the only one who would get it was the
most literate among them and who had the neatest handwriting.
Now, the manager of the office was a rather large black
cat, a touch senile perhaps, but otherwise as sharp as a tack — quite respectable. The workers beneath
him were:
First Clerk: a white cat
Second Clerk; a tabby cat
Third Clerk, a tortoiseshell cat
Fourth Clerk, a “sooty” sort of cat.
The “sooty” sort of cat (everyone simply referred to him as
“Soot Cat,” was not actually born that way; rather, he was born with some sort
of regular, natural coloring (no one however was quite certain what that was).
No, his coloring came from his habit of sleeping inside an oven at night; and
as a result, his fur always ended up filthy with soot. His nose and ears in
particular were stained a deep black, so one might even venture to say that he
somewhat resembled a tanuki. It was
because of this that Soot Cat was
somewhat scorned by the others; that, and because the head of the office was a
black cat, this sooty cat, who normally would never ever have been given a
chance to become a clerk, no matter how much he studied, when a position became
available, was chosen over forty applicants.
Manager Black Cat sat behind a red felt-covered table in
the middle of the large office, with White Cat the First Clerk and the Third
Clerk, Tortoiseshell, on his right, and Tabby Cat, the Second Clerk, and Soot
Cat, the Fourth cat on his left; each clerk properly seated in their own little
chair in front of their own little table.
Now you may well ask, “How did the 6th Office of
the Ministry of Feline Affairs operate?” Well, it’s rather like this for
example:
There was a knock on the office door. “Enter!” Manager
Black Cat shouted, leaning back in his chair with his hands in his pockets. The
four clerks kept their heads down, flipping busily through their various
notebooks. A well-off cat entered. “How may we help you?” asked Black Cat.
“I would like to visit the Bering region in order to eat
some arctic mice. Would you tell me the best place to go?
“Yes, of course,” replied Manger Cat. “First Clerk, tell us
where arctic mice live.”
The First Clerk opened up a thick notebook with a blue
cover and replied, “Usteragominya, Novaskaya, and the Husa River Basin.”
The manger addressed the well-off cat, “Usteragominya,
Nova…what was it called?”
“Novaskaya,” replied the First Clerk and the well-off cat
in unison.
“Oh yes, Novaskaya, and then what?”
“The Husa River Basin,” the well-off cat and First Clerk
said again in unison, embarrassing Manger Black Cat.
“Right then! The Husa River. Well, I suppose that’s the
place to go then.”
“So,” continued the well-off cat, “would you give me any
advisories about travelling there?”
“Certainly. Second Clerk, tell me if there are any
advisories about travelling in the Bering region.”
“Yes sir,” replied the Second Clerk, already flipping
through his own notebook. “Summer cats must not travel there.” As he said this,
for some reason, everyone glanced at Soot Cat.
Second clerk continued, “There is also a dire warning for
winter cats. There is a danger of being lured in by the use of horse meat and
trapped, near Hakodate. Furthermore, when black cats in particular travel there
without properly distinguishing themselves as cats, they are often mistaken for
black foxes and hunted down.”
“Ah, very well then,” said Manger Black Cat. “It’s quite as
he said. You are not a black cat such as me, so you shouldn’t have any real
trouble. Just be certain to keep clear of horse meat near Hakodate.”
“Well, then,” asked the well-off cat, “Are there any
persons of note in that area?”
“Third Clerk, give me the names of any persons of note in
the Bering area,” ordered Manger Cat.
“Yess…well…in the Bering area…yes…Tovaski, Gansoski…there
are those names.”
“Tovaski and Gansoski? What sort of fellows are they”
inquired the well-off cat.
“Fourth Clerk, tell me about Tovaski and Gansoski,”
directed Manger Cat.
“Yes sir.” The Fourth Clerk, Soot Cat, had already placed
one slender paw at the entries there for Tovaski and Gansoski. Both the manger
and the well-off cat seemed to be very impressed by that; while the other three
clerks glared at Soot Cat as if they had been slighted, and just sneered.
Soot Cat read from his notebook the best he could. “Chief
Tovaski has great moral influence. He has a piercing gaze, but he is slow to
speak. Wealthy Gansoski is a bit slow to speak, but he as a piercing gaze.”
“Well then, that’s all I need to know,” said the well-off
cat, and he left.
And that’s the way things work — rather well for cats;
however, only a year after the incident I am about to describe for you, the 6th
Office was shut down. Be that as it may, you no doubt realize by now that
the Fourth Clerk, Soot Cat, was greatly disliked by the other three. The Third
Clerk, Tortoiseshell, was just itching to take over Soot’s work and be rid of
him; and Soot simply wanted the others to think well of him. So, he worked very
hard at everything he did; but no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to
change things.
For example, one day when Tabby Cat, who was seated beside
Soot, placed his lunch on his desk and began to eat, he was suddenly struck by
a case of the “yawns.” Taby stretched out his stubby arms as high as he could,
and gave a great yawn. Now, since they were all cats, this wasn’t seen as any
sign of disrespect —
had he been a human, it would have been the sort of offense that would have
gotten his whiskers pulled. What was rude however was that when he pushed his
table away, trying to stretch his legs as well, his lunch box slid off,
clattering onto the floor, right in front of Manager Black Cat. The lunch box
was a little beat up, but since it was made of aluminum, it didn’t break. Tabby
hurriedly finished his stretch, and then leaned across the table, stretching
out his arms, attempting to pick it back up.
“It’s no use! You’ll never reach it,” laughed Manger Black
Cat, noisily chewing on a piece of bread.
At that moment, Soot Cat had just opened the lid of his own
lunch box; but seeing the situation, he stood up at once, picked up the lunch
box from the floor, and handed it to Tabby Cat. Tabby suddenly became quite
angry, threw his hands up, refusing to take the box which Soot had gone out of
his way to pick up, and shouted, his body shaking.
“What’s this? Are you saying I should eat this? Are you
saying I should eat something that fell on the floor?”
“No sir,” replied Soot. “I was merely picking it up for
you, since you were trying to pick it up yourself.”
“And just when was I trying to pick it up? Hmmmm….I just
thought it quite rude to drop something in front of the manger, so I as trying
to push it under my desk.”
“Oh, I see,” replied Soot. Still, the lunch box was sliding
all over the place so…”
“What impertinence!” snapped Tabby. “Are you trying to
start someth…”
The manger gave a loud growl, interrupting so as not to
allow Tabby Cat to start a fight. “Please stop your quarreling. Soot didn’t
pick up the lunch box with the intention of making you eat from it. And perhaps
you have forgotten, Tabby…but I told you this morning you were getting a 10-cent
raise.”
At first, Tabby Cat appeared frightened, but listened with
his head bent down. Soon he began to smile. “Please forgive my rudeness sir.”
He glanced sideways at Soot Cat and took his seat.
One has to feel sorry for Soot Cat. Once again, fifty-six
days after that incident, a similar event occurred. This very sort of thing
often happened because, for one thing, cats are naturally lazy, and also their
front legs — that
is, their arms — are
rather short. On this particular day, it was the Third Clerk, Tortoiseshell
Cat, sitting on the other side of the room, who, before he could start his work
for the morning, let his pen slip and sent it rolling onto the floor.
Tortoiseshell decided to spare himself the trouble of standing, so right then,
as had Tabby, he leaned forward across the desk, stretched out his arms, and
tried to pick up the pen. And, just as before, there was no way that he could
reach it. As a matter of fact, Tortoiseshell was particularly short, so as he
leaned further forward, his legs left his seat. Soot wasn’t sure whether he
should pick up the pen, given what had happened before, so he hesitated a bit,
blinking, but soon he could no longer just ignore it and stood.
This time however, Tortoiseshell leaned too far forward and
toppled over the desk, banging his head. It made a dreadful sound, so much so
that even Manger Black Cat stood up in surprise and took a bottle of ammonia
from the shelf behind him, so that he could bring Tortoiseshell to. However,
Tortoiseshell soon awoke on his own, and abruptly, in a fit of confusion
shouted, “Soot! You are a rat! How dare you shove me!”
This time, the manger was quick to calm Tortoiseshell. “No,
Tortoiseshell, that was your fault. Soot merely stood to do you a favor, not to
do you any harm. Still, it’s not that big a deal. Anyway…ummmm…Santontan’s
change of address…yes…” and he quickly returned to his work. Left with no
alternative, Tortoiseshell also went back to his work, now and then glancing at
Soot with a sinister gaze.
So, this was the way of things — quite distressing for Soot Cat.
Soot, trying so hard to become and “ordinary cat”, took to
sleeping outside the window of his shack, but the night was much too cold and
he couldn’t stop sneezing; so there was no choice but back to the oven. Why did
he get so cold? Well, it was because his skin was rather thin, the reason being
that he was born in midsummer. When Soot thought about all this, how hopeless
it was and that there was nothing he could do about it, his round eyes filled
with tears. Despite all this, the manager was quite kind to him, and he was
happy to think that his colleagues at the office held such prestige in the
community; so even as he cried, Soot clenched his fists and thought to himself,
“No matter how hard it gets, I won’t quit! I can make it through this!”
Be that as it may, even Manager Black Cat could not always
be counted on. By virtue of being a cat, although he seemed wise, he really was
a fool. Once, Soot Cat caught a bad cold and the joints in his legs swelled up
to the size of softballs, so that he couldn’t even walk and had to take a day
off from work. He didn’t even try to put up a fight; he just lay in his bed and
cried and cried and cried. While watching the yellow light that streamed in
through a little window in his shed, he rubbed his eyes and cried the whole day
through.
Meanwhile, back at the office:
“My goodness! Soot still hasn’t come in today. He’s
terribly late,” said the manger between tasks.
“Oh! He must have goon off to the beach to play or
something,” said White Cat.
“No, I’ll bet someone called him off to a party somewhere,”
said Tabby Cat.
“There’s a party going on today?” the manager asked with a
start. He didn’t think that there was any cat in the town who would throw a
party and not invite him.
“I heard there was a school opening ceremony or something
going on up north.”
“Oh, I see.” Black Cat grew silent and began to brood.
“Why on earth,” said Tortoiseshell, “is Soot Cat being
invited to so many places these days? I hear he’s been saying that no matter
what, he’s going to be the next manager. So some worldly fools are trying their
hardest to curry favor with him.”
“Is this true?” shouted Black Cat.
“It is indeed true. Go see for yourself,” Tortoiseshell
said with a frown.
“Inexcusable…that cat has been eyeing me a lot. Alright, I
have a thought of my own!”
The office was deathly silent for some time after that.
The next day, the swelling in Soot Cat’s legs had finally
gone down, so he woke up bright and early, and walked to the office through a
howling wind. When he arrived, his beloved notebook, the cover of which he
would stroke each morning, was no longer on top of his desk; but instead, its
contents had been divided up between the desks of his three colleagues.
“Ah, they must have been busy yesterday,” he said to
himself in a hoarse voice, his heart pounding.
Click! The door opened and in came Tortoiseshell.
“Good morning,” Soot stood and greeted him, but
Tortoiseshell just took his seat quietly, and then leafed through his notebook
as if he was incredibly busy.
Click! Slam! In came Tabby Cat.
“Good Moring” greeted Soot as before, but Tabby wouldn’t
even look his way.
“Good morning,” said Tortoiseshell.
“Morning. Some wind out there, huh?” said Tabby as he began
leafing through his notebook without delay.
Click! Slam! White Cat entered the office.
“Good morning, “Tabby and Tortoiseshell greeted in unison.
“Oh! Morning! It’s quite windy out today.” White also took
up his work. Soot stood languidly and silently bowed, but White Cat acted as if
he didn’t even know him.
Clack! Smack!
“Whew! My goodness it’s windy.” In came Manger Black. “Good
morning.” The three other cats quickly stood and bowed while Soot stood in a
daze and bowed, averting his gaze.
“Seems to be a storm, yes,” said Black Cat, not looking at
Soot. Soon afterward, he began his work.
“Well, we should continue yesterday’s inquiry of the
Anmognac brothers. Second Clerk, which of the Anmognac brothers went to the
south pole?”
And so began the day’s work. Soot watched them quietly. He
had no notebook to work with. Even if he wanted to say something, he could not
bring himself to speak.
“It was Pan and Polaris,” replied Tabby.
“Alright, tell me more about Pan and Polaris,” said Black.
“Oh, but that’s my job! The details…the details!” thought
Soot, now on the verge of tears.
“Pan and Polaris perished on Yap Island, while returning
from an expedition to the South Pole. Their frozen remains were buried at sea,”
the First Clerk, White Cat, read from Soot’s own notes. Soot was sad, very sad,
and his cheeks began to droop; but he watched them and endured it, holding back
the tears.
The office steadily became busier and busier, and the work
rolled along. Once in a while, each of them glanced Soot’s way, but they never
said a word.
Noon came along. Soot didn’t even eat the lunch he had
brought with him, he just sat patiently and watched; his hands in his lap.
About an hour later, Soot began to sob. He cried on and off for the next three
hours, until the sun began to set. Still, the others continued their apparently
interesting work, as if they did not notice him at all.
About that same time, although the cats were not aware of
it, a lion’s austere golden face was watching them through the window behind
the manger. The lion had watched them suspiciously for some time; and then
without warning, pounded on the door and came into the room. I probably don’t
have to tell you how very surprised the cats were. The lion sauntered around
the office lazily. Only Soot stood to greet him, drying his tears.
The lion spoke in a loud, stern voice, “Just what do you
think you’re doing? You cats have no need for geography and history! Cease this
at once. Humph! I’m closing this place down!”
As it turns out, and as you might suspect, the lion was
from the very highest levels of government; and thus, the office was disbanded.
I half-agree with the lion.
*Oh, by the way. In case
you are worried about whatever happened to Soot Cat, you needn’t worry. As was
the custom, when one government office was closed, its personnel were placed
with some other office that needed their talents — of which Soot Cat had
many.
_______________________________________________
“The Cat Office,” by Miyazawa Kenji, a new translation by
Hayato Tokugawa. Copyright © 2013 by
Haytato Tokugawa and Shisei-Dō Publications. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States and Japan by Shisei-Dō
Publications. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo- copying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without prior
written permission of the author or publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
“The Cat Office” by Miyazawa Kenji, first published in 1926, is in the
public domain.
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