"This little town called
"I have heard that on the Southern Continent there are many strange and unusual customs, and I hope one day to experience them in person — once, of course, peace has returned to East and
"To return to
"There are no meteorologists here, and I have no means of knowing the reason for so changeable a climate; I can only guess that it relates to the nearness of the sea and to lying in a hurricane belt. Yes, a few kilometres outside
"They have no local newspaper either; this is, after all, only a small town of a few thousand. The newsboys mainly hawk the Tasoc Gazette, the Dixie Mirror and the Sea-Wind News…
"The second reason I like the place is that many of the people of
"As I write these lines, there is just then passing outside the inn a band.
"It is not a professional band, but a body made up wholly of amateurs: government clerks, justices of the peace, solicitors, professional policemen, schoolmasters, factory workmen, shopkeepers… Those with money and time take the more difficult instruments — the brass horns, the violins — while the citizens of the middling and lower ranks use the lyre, the harmonica and other simpler items.
"On certain rest-days they take to the streets, setting out from the City Hall Plaza, going round the town in a circle, and returning to St
"During the parade, they not only do not shun the citizens' joining in, but actively encourage them to sing and dance along with the procession. From what I have observed, the participants are all quite delighted, quite content; they pour out without restraint their love of life, and through this I feel a vigorous, soaring spirit.
"One must admit it is very infectious; I tried joining the procession once, and, in the music and dancing and singing, forgot my cares and remembered only joy…
"Today they are not parading but going to the church to bring blessings to a newly-married couple.
"Speaking of weddings, what I most cannot fathom about
"Before today, I could not have imagined that there could be an ordinary town in the Kingdom that worshipped only a single god.
"For me, however, this is no great inconvenience. Before I turned eighteen, under my family's influence I could only believe in the '
"To return to the wedding itself: I attended one a couple of days ago and discovered that
"What most won my admiration is that, when the parson proclaims the marriage complete, the bridegroom and the bride bow to each other; there is no question of who is higher or lower — only an earnest expression of gratitude that the two shall walk through life together.
"Perhaps this is one expression of the equality between man and woman in the teachings of the Goddess…
"Furthermore, the festivities after the wedding contain certain special game-pieces — for instance, the bridegroom and bride are made to recount their own love story.
"For them, this may be a rather awkward matter; but for the guests it is most amusing. Yes, I am of that opinion too; though I certainly shall not include such a feature at my own wedding.
"At that wedding I heard the best love story I have heard in my life to date; if the chance comes, and if the readers of this column like it, I will consider retelling it — naturally I shall alter the names and certain details, so as not to discomfit that couple…
"The most important reason of all that I like
"Whether the most basic pan-fried steak, fried pork cutlet, charcoal-grilled meat and pan-fried oily fish, or the more complex or more difficult pea-stewed lamb, cream soup, butter-mashed potatoes and baked potato skins, all reach unquestionably the level of city master-chefs; what is more, the chefs here are also quite skilled at creating peculiar dishes and foods — sweet-and-sour minced meat, fish baked under coat after coat of seasoning…
"On the staple food, where there would seem to be no room for variation, the chefs of
"Of all the foods here, the most worthy of praise is their desserts:
"Cream pudding, fruit pudding, Black Forest cake, carrot cake, milk cake, muffins, egg tarts…
"Writing thus far, I feel hungry again — and this is the reason I have stayed here a whole week and still do not wish to leave. What I worry about now is not my purse but the question of my weight; I am at once thankful that the inn has no mechanical scale, and at once vexed that they have none.
"The red wines of
"Here I must solemnly recommend a beverage: the
"Every evening I walk in the City Hall Plaza, which is also the citizens of
"At the Plaza I made the acquaintance of a painter — he is called Anderson; handsome of face, exquisite in technique; alas, he is mute…
"I also made the acquaintance of a writer — his name is Alesu, a rather odd name. He told me he is composing a long novel and asked me to taste the opening.
"As to his novel I shall pass no comment; I merely thought it strange that a few familiar names should appear in its opening.
"These include Anderson; Wendy — yes, that is the owner of my favourite bakery…
"I raised this query, and Alesu told me, very earnestly, that when a writer cannot think of names for his characters, taking those of acquaintances around him as a reference is a perfectly reasonable thing to do."