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    Night on the Milky Way Railway
    Night on the Milky Way Railway
    Night on the Milky Way Railway
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Night on the Milky Way Railway

    By Kenji Miyazawa

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Giovanni is having trouble concentrating at school because he's tired from his part-time job and he doesn't have time to play with any of his friends any more. His local village is getting ready to hold their annual star festival, but Giovanni feels as if he's been left out. But then the most amazing thing happens, and Giovanni finds himself riding on a train heading through the Milky Way.

    A Story With A Message

    At one time or another in our lives we must deal with the grief of losing a friend or loved one. Quite often it is difficult to move on after such an event. But what if we were to remember an amazing train ride across the Milky Way that we shared with that friend, each time we thought about them? What if we were able to turn our grief into a resolve to make a difference in the world and to live the life that our friend missed out on as well as our own? What if we made an effort to keep their memory alive by embracing life, wouldn't that make a difference? Wouldn't that help us move on? This is the story of Night on the Milky Way Railway.

    About this Translation
    This translation includes a simple glossary (just click on the featured word to jump to the explanation) to help you navigate your way through the galaxy, which can also be accessed at the back of the book after you have finished reading the story. I have also added the translation of the 'Cello Voice' sections that Kenji cut from the final version. The Cello Voice sections provide an interesting insight into the author's motivation for writing the story. A much more detailed glossary can be found on the Little J Books website.
    All effort was made to create a translation faithful to the author's vision. No material has been used in this translation that wasn't written by the author, and the names of the characters have not been changed.

    About the Author
    Born in 1896, Kenji was brought up as the eldest child in a wealthy household in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. From a very young age he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, with interests spanning geology, astronomy, through all types of flora and fauna, cinema, music, painting and literature. A devout Buddhist, Kenji turned his back on the family pawn broking and second-hand kimono business, becoming a teacher at the local agricultural high school, and writing poems and fairytales to help spread a Buddhist message of universal peace.
    Night on the Milky Way Railway is his longest story, and is considered by many to be his best.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLittle J Books
    Release dateJan 14, 2014
    ISBN9781311191632
    Night on the Milky Way Railway

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      Book preview

      Night on the Milky Way Railway - Kenji Miyazawa

      About Kenji Miyazawa

      Born in 1896, Kenji was brought up as the eldest child in a wealthy household in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. From a very young age he had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, with interests spanning geology, astronomy, through all types of flora and fauna, cinema, music, painting and literature. A devout Buddhist, Kenji turned his back on the family pawn broking and second-hand kimono business, becoming a teacher at the local agricultural high school, and writing poems and fairytales to help spread a Buddhist message of universal peace.

      Although now an internationally renowned author, at the time of his death at the age of 37, he was relatively unknown, having only received payment for a single short story, and apart from two volumes of short stories and poems that he self-published in 1924, the majority of his work was still unpublished. However, before his death, his work attracted the attention of several successful artists and poets, who, along with his brother Seiroku, collaborated on the publication of the majority of his works over a number of years. He is now one of Japan's best known poets and authors of the modern era.

      The Kenji Festival, where local children and adults act, sing and read the works of Kenji, is held annually in Kenji's hometown of Hanamaki, Iwate, each year on the anniversary of his death, September 21.

      A 'No-Spoiler' Introduction

      This translation includes a simple glossary (just click on the featured word to jump to the explanation) to help you navigate your way through the galaxy, which can also be accessed at the back of the book after you have finished reading the story. I have also added the translation of the 'Cello Voice' sections that Kenji cut from the final version. The Cello Voice sections provide an interesting insight into the author's motivation for writing the story.

      Although I did compile a detailed glossary, including all of the, gemstones, trees, plants and flowers mentioned in the story (with pictures), it was too big to be included in this book, and has been added to the Little J Books website. Please take a look if you are interested in learning more about this story.

      Kenji Miyazawa was the creator of a dreamland called Ihatov (sometimes spelt Ihatovo), a place where he set all of his short stories. It is a place where all kinds of things are possible. There are animals that talk, there are children that can fly and there are horse carriages made of mushrooms. At first, this story seems quite different to those, and when you notice that the main character's name is Giovanni, you may start thinking: Surely this story is set in Italy, isn’t it? But this story is also set in Ihatov, so please do not be distracted by the characters' names.

      I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed translating it and I look forward to seeing you sometime at the Kenji Festival held every year in Hanamaki, Iwate on September 21.

      Translator and Founder of Little J Books

      Paul Quirk

      Milky Way - The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System. The Milky Way contains 100–400 billion stars and may contain at least as many planets as well. Our Solar System is located about 27,000 light-years away from the center of the Milky Way, which is thought to contain a supermassive black hole. The Milky Way is just one of many galaxies; Andromeda and the Large Magellanic Cloud examples of two others.

      Constellation maps and artwork

      Depiction of the northern sky constellations by Albrecht Dürer (1515)

      Map of the constellations of the northern sky

      (Courtesy Encyclopaedia Britannica)

      Depiction of southern sky constellations by Johan Gabriel Doppelmayr (1742)

      Map of the constellations of the southern sky

      (Courtesy Encyclopaedia Britannica)

      Night on the Milky Way Railway

      Chapter 1 - Afternoon Class

      So class, this white cloudy area that some people call a river, and others the remains of spilt milk; does anyone know what it really is? asked the teacher, pointing to a white cloudy region stretching all the way down the constellation chart hanging in front of the blackboard.

      Campanella raised his hand. Four or five others raised their hands after him. Giovanni raised his hand too, but he quickly pulled it down again. He was pretty sure he'd read in a magazine a while ago that they were all stars, but these days Giovanni was always sleepy during class, and he didn't have any books or time to read them, and he felt as if he didn't really know anything.

      But the teacher quickly spotted him.

      OK, Giovanni? You know what it is, don't you?

      Giovanni got straight to his feet, but as soon as he was standing it was clear he wouldn't be able to answer. Zanelli, sitting directly in front, turned around and snickered. Giovanni became flustered and his face turned red. The teacher asked him again:

      If we look closely at the Milky Way through a large telescope, what is it that we mostly see?

      Giovanni was now even more certain that they were stars, but still he couldn't answer.

      The teacher hesitated for several moments unsure what to do, but then shifted his gaze toward Campanella.

      Ok then, Campanella?

      But then Campanella, who only moments ago had put his hand up so confidently, could now only get slowly to his feet, and of course he couldn't answer either.

      For some moments, the teacher gave a puzzled look at Campanella, but then, turning to point at the constellation chart, he said:

      Right then. If you look at this white cloudy area through a good quality large telescope, you will be able to see lots and lots of tiny stars. Isn't that right Giovanni?

      Giovanni nodded, his face turning red once more. But now his eyes had filled with tears.

      They are stars, I knew they were, and Campanella must have known they were too, because it was in that magazine that Campanella's dad, the professor, gave us to read when I was at his house. And then, after we finished reading the magazine, Campanella went and got that big book from his dad's study and opened it up to the section on the Milky Way, and we spent ages and ages looking at that beautiful photo of all those white spots on the shiny black page. Campanella couldn't have forgotten that, so the only reason he didn't answer right away was because he knows I've been working really long hours, before and after school. And even when I'm at school I'm too tired to play with the others, and I hardly even speak to Campanella anymore. He must have felt sorry for me and didn't answer on purpose.

      Giovanni was overcome with a feeling of pity; for himself and for Campanella.

      The teacher continued.

      "So if you think of the Milky Way as a real river, then each one of those tiny stars corresponds to the sand or the pebbles on the bottom of that river. But if you think of it as a large stream of milk, then it is even more like the Milky Way. In that case, each one of those stars corresponds to a tiny globule of oil floating in the milk.

      "So you might ask, what corresponds to the water in that river? Well that is something known as a vacuum, which allows light to pass at a certain speed, and in which our sun and earth are also floating in right now. Which means that we are also living in the water of the

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