Jun 20, 2025
my translation of the third story of 夢で会いましょう [Meet Me in a Dream] by Haruki Murakami and Shigesato Itoi, not guaranteed to be accurate. see the intro post to read more!
Of all places on earth, we got lost in a field of asparagus. Our plan was to reach our village early that morning, but by the time we understood we were stuck in the vast asparagus the sun was sinking in the west. The passing wind carried a chill, along with the ominous scent of the asparagus.
In attempt to find our time and place I pulled a map out from my bag, but I learned nothing. No asparagus farm was listed there.
— What’s the point? I said. Even if we knew the way home, we’d never reach it.
My younger brother was lighter than me, so he climbed a tree that rose from the asparagus. He clung to its trunk with one hand, just like a monkey, and squinted into the distant horizon.
— I don’t get it, I can’t see nothing, he said. Not even lights.
— How’s that possible? my younger sister asked, tears in her eyes.
— It’s ok, don’t worry at all, I said. You all gather firewood for the night. I’ll see if I can dig us up a ditch, find some ground water.
As instructed, my siblings worked to gather sticks of dried asparagus, covering their mouths to prevent breathing its overpowering vapors. Meanwhile with a short shovel I started on my ditch. A dry, meter-deep ditch: it was hardly enought to be called a placebo, but what else did I have? Anything to soothe my frightened siblings.
The moon by now had risen in the sky, its light dyeing the mists that rose above the asparagus blue. Scattered birds now fell to the ground, began to flap their wings in terror. Soon—once the moon was all the way above us—they would be caught up in the roots of the asparagus. To think: a full moon on this of any night.
— Crouch your bodies low everyone, I said. Make sure your head’s under their gas. Don’t fall asleep. As soon as you fall asleep, the vines will grab you.
The longest night of our lives had just begun.