The next day, I followed Sensei into the sea, and swam after him. When we had gone more than a couple of hundred yards out, Sensei turned and spoke to me. The sea stretched, wide and blue, all around us, and there seemed to be no one near us. The bright sun shone on the water and the mountains, as far as the eye could see. My whole body seemed to be filled with a sense of freedom and joy, and I splashed about wildly in the sea. Sensei had stopped moving, and was floating quietly on his back. I then imitated him. The dazzling blue of the sky beat against my face, and I felt as though little, bright darts were being thrown into my eyes. And I cried out, “What fun this is!”
After a while, Sensei moved to an upright position, and said, “Shall we go back?” I, who was young and hardy, wanted very much to stay. But I answered willingly enough, “Yes, let us go back.” And we returned to the shore together.
That was the beginning of our friendship. But I did not yet know where Sensei lived.
It was, I think, on the afternoon of the third day following our swim together that Sensei, when we met at the tea house, suddenly asked me, “Do you intend to stay in Kamakura long?” I had really no idea how much longer I would be in Kamakura, so I said, “I don’t know.” I then saw that Sensei was grinning, and I suddenly became embarrassed. I could not help blurting out, “And you, Sensei?” It was then that I began to call him “Sensei.”
That evening, I visited Sensei at his lodgings. He was not staying at an ordinary inn, but had his rooms in a mansion-like building within the grounds of a large temple. I saw that he had no ties of any kind with the other people staying there. He smiled wryly at the way I persisted in addressing him as “Sensei,” and I found myself explaining that it was my habit to so address my elders. I asked him about the Westerner, and he told me that his friend was no longer in Kamakura. His friend, I was told, was somewhat eccentric. He spoke to me of other things concerning the Westerner too, and then remarked that it was strange that he, who had so few acquaintances among his fellow Japanese, should have become intimate with a foreigner. Finally, before leaving, I said to Sensei that I felt I had met him somewhere before but that I could not remember where or when. I was young, and as I said this, I hoped, and indeed expected, that he would confess to the same feeling. But after pondering awhile, Sensei said to me, “I cannot remember ever having met you before. Are you not mistaken?” And I was filled with a new and deep sense of disappointment.
I returned to Tokyo at the end of the month. Sensei had left the resort long before me. As we were taking leave of each other, I had asked him, “Would it be all right if I visited you at your home now and then?” And he had answered quite simply, “Yes, of course.” I had been under the impression that we were intimate friends, and had somehow expected a warmer reply. My self-confidence, I remember, was rather shaken then.
Often, during my association with Sensei, I was disappointed in this way. Sometimes, Sensei seemed to know that I had been hurt, and sometimes, he seemed not to know. But no matter how often I experienced such trifling disappointments, I never felt any desire to part from Sensei. Indeed, each time I suffered a rebuff, I wished more than ever to push our friendship further. I thought that with greater intimacy, I would perhaps find in him those things that I looked for. I was very young, it is true. But I think that I would not have behaved quite so simply towards others. I did not understand then why it was that I should behave thus towards Sensei only. But now, when Sensei is dead, I am beginning to understand. It was not that Sensei disliked me at first. His curt and cold ways were not designed to express his dislike of me, but they were meant rather as a warning to me that I would not want him as a friend. It was because he despised himself that he refused to accept openheartedly the intimacy of others. I feel great pity for him.
I intended of course to visit Sensei when I returned to Tokyo. There were still two weeks left before the beginning of lectures, and I thought I would visit him during that time. A few days after my return, however, I began to feel less inclined to do so. The atmosphere of the great city affected me a great deal, bringing back memories. Every time I saw a student in the streets, I found myself awaiting the coming of the new academic year with a feeling of hope and tense excitement. For a while, I forgot all about Sensei.
A month or so after the start of lectures, I became more relaxed. At the same time, I began to walk about the streets discontentedly, and to look around my room with a feeling that something was lacking in my life. I began to think of Sensei, and I found that I wanted to see him again.
The first time I went to his home, Sensei was out. I remember that I went again the following Sunday. It was a lovely day, and the sky was so blue that I was filled with a sense of wellbeing. Again, he was not at home. In Kamakura, Sensei had told me that he spent most of his time at home: indeed, he had even told me that he disliked to go out. Remembering this, I felt an unreasonable resentment at having twice failed to find him. I therefore hesitated in the front hall, staring at the maid who had informed me of her master’s absence. She seemed to remember that I had called before and left my card. Asking me to wait, she went away. A lady then appeared, whom I took to be the mistress of the house. She was beautiful.
Very courteously, she told me of Sensei’s whereabouts. I learned that every month, on the same day, it was Sensei’s custom to take flowers to a certain grave in the cemetery at Zoshigaya. “He left here,” said the lady regretfully, “hardly more than ten minutes ago.” I thanked her and left. Before I had gone very far towards the busier part of town, I decided that it would be a pleasant walk to Zoshigaya. Besides, I might meet Sensei, I thought. I turned around and started to walk in the direction of Zoshigaya.
From the left side of a field I entered the cemetery and proceeded along a broad avenue bordered on each side by maple trees. There was a tea house at the end of the avenue, and I saw coming out of it someone that looked like Sensei. I walked towards him until I could see the sunlight reflected on the frame of his spectacles. Then, suddenly, I cried out aloud, “Sensei!” Sensei stopped, and saw me. “How in the world . . . ?” he said. Then again, “How in the world . . . ?” His words, repeated, seemed to have a strange echo-like effect in the stillness of the afternoon. I did not know what to say.
“Did you follow me? How . . . ?”
He seemed quite relaxed as he stood there, and his voice was calm. But there was on his face a strangely clouded expression.
I explained to Sensei how I happened to be there.
“Did my wife tell you whose grave I was visiting?”
“Oh, no.”
“Well, I suppose there was no reason why she should. After all, she met you today for the first time. No, of course not, there was no need for her to tell you.”
At last, he appeared satisfied. But I could not understand the reason for his remarks.