Norwegian Wood Midori Quotes

I really like you, Midori. A lot.” “How much is a lot?” “Like a spring bear,” I said. “A spring bear?” Midori looked up again. “What’s that all about? A spring bear.” “You’re walking through a field all by yourself one day in spring, and this sweet little bear cub with velvet fur and shiny little eyes comes walking along. And he says to you, “Hi, there, little lady. Want to tumble with me?’ So you and the bear cub spend the whole day in each other’s arms, tumbling down this clover-covered hill. Nice, huh?” “Yeah. Really nice.” “That’s how much I like you.

How much do you love me?' Midori asked. 'Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter,' I said.

You’re really cute, Midori,” I corrected myself. “What do you mean really cute?” “So cute the mountains crumble and the oceans dry up.

Hey, what is it with you? Why are you so spaced out? You still haven't answered me." I probably still haven't completely adapted to the world," I said after giving it some thought. "I don't know, I feel like this isn't the real world. The people, the scene: they just don't seem real to me." Midori rested an elbow on the bar and looked at me. "There was something like that in a Jim Morrison song, I'm pretty sure." People are strange when you're a stranger.

I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally three hundred and sixty five days a year, I was still in elementary school at the time - fifth or sixth grade - but I made up my mind once and for all.” “Wow,” I said. “Did the search pay off?” “That’s the hard part,” said Midori. She watched the rising smoke for a while, thinking. “I guess I’ve been waiting so long I’m looking for perfection. That makes it tough.” “Waiting for the perfect love?” “No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don’t want it anymore and throw it out the window. That’s what I’m looking for.” “I’m not sure that has anything to do with love,” I said with some amazement. “It does,” she said. “You just don’t know it. There are time in a girl’s life when things like that are incredibly important.” “Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?” “Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. “Now I see, Midori. What a fool I have been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I’ll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate Mousse? Cheesecake?” “So then what?” “So then I’d give him all the love he deserves for what he’s done.” “Sounds crazy to me.” “Well, to me, that’s what love is…

Let me just tell you this, Watanabe," said Midori, pressing her cheek against my neck. "I'm a real, live girl, with real, live blood gushing through my veins. You're holding me in your arms and I'm telling you that I love you. I'm ready to do anything you tell me to do. I may be a little bit mad, but I'm a good girl, and honest, and I work hard, I'm kind of cute, I have nice boobs, I'm a good cook, and my father left me a trust fund. I mean, I'm a real bargain, don't you think? If you don't take me, I'll end up going somewhere else.

I wrote a huge number of letters that spring: one a week to Naoko, several to Reiko, and several more to Midori. I wrote letters in the classroom, I wrote letters at my desk at home with Seagull in my lap, I wrote letters at empty tables during my breaks at the Italian restaurant. It was as if I were writing letters to hold together the pieces of my crumbling life.

I have always loved Naoko, and I still love her. But there is a decisive finality to what exists between Midori and me. It has an irresistible power that is bound to sweep me into the future. What I feel for Naoko is a tremendously quiet and gentle and transparent love, but what I feel for Midori is a wholly different emotion. It stands and walks on its own, living and breathing and throbbing and shaking me to the roots of my being.

Where are you now?’ Where was I now? Gripping the receiver, I raised my hand and turned to see what lay beyond the telephone booth. Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out for Midori from the dead center of this place that was no place.

You mean, if you knew me better, you'd force stuff on me like everybody else? Toru: It's possible," I said. "That's how people live in the real world: forcing stuff on each other. Midori: You wouldn't do that. I can tell. I'm an expert when it comes to forcing stuff and having stuff forced on you. You're just not that type. That's why I can relax with you. Do you have any idea how many people there are in the world who like to force stuff on people and have stuff forced on them? Tons! And then they make a big fuss, like, 'I forced her,' 'You forced me'! That's what they like. But I don't like it. I just do it 'cause I have to.

(When asked “Was the model for Midori (a character in Norwegian Wood) modeled after your wife?”) I showed your message to my wife. She got mad and yelled: “What would make them think I was the model for Midori?!” She told me to fix the misunderstanding immediately, so that’s why I’m writing this reply now. Please stop causing problems in my household. Thank you.

You know what I like best about porn cinemas?" "I couldn't begin to guess." "Whenever a sex scene starts, you can hear this "Gulp!' sound when everybody swallows all at once," said Midori. "I love that "Gulp!' It's so sweet!

Eres muy bonita, Midori -corregí. ¿Cuánto? Tan bonita como para hacer que las montañas se derrumben y el mar se seque

So I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally three hundred and sixty five days a year, I was still in elementary school at the time - fifth or sixth grade - but I made up my mind once and for all.” -“Wow,” I said. “Did the search pay off?” “That’s the hard part,” said Midori. She watched the rising smoke for a while, thinking. “I guess I’ve been waiting so long I’m looking for perfection. That makes it tough.” -“Waiting for the perfect love?” “No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don’t want it anymore and throw it out the window. That’s what I’m looking for.” -“I’m not sure that has anything to do with love,” I said with some amazement. “It does,” she said. “You just don’t know it. There are time in a girl’s life when things like that are incredibly important.” -“Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?” “Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. “Now I see, Midori. What a fool I have been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I’ll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate Mousse? Cheesecake?” -“So then what?” “So then I’d give him all the love he deserves for what he’s done.” -“Sounds crazy to me.” “Well, to me, that’s what love is…

What I feel for Naoko is a tremendously quiet and gentle and transparent love, but what I feel for Midori is a wholly different emotion. It stands and walks on its own, living and breathing and throbbing and shaking me to the roots of my being.

Where was i now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again I called out for Midori from the dead centre of this place that was no place.

Midori responded with a long, long silence—the silence of all the misty rain in the world falling on all the new-mown lawns of the world.

That does it for me, then. I’m not going to believe in any damned revolution. Love is all I’m going to believe in.” “Peace,” I said. “Peace,” said Midori.

Something presses on a part of the brain and makes people say all kinds of nasty things. You know it's just part of the sickness, but still, it hurts. Wha do you expect? Here I am, working my fingers to the bone for them, and they're saying all this terrible stuff to me.

–¡No, hombre! No pido tanto. Lo que quiero es simple egoísmo. Un egoísmo perfecto. Por ejemplo: te digo que quiero un pastel de fresa, y entonces tú lo dejas todo y vas a comprármelo. Vuelves jadeando y me lo ofreces. «Toma, Midori. Tu pastel de fresa», me dices. Y te suelto: «¡Ya se me han quitado las ganas de comérmelo!». Y lo arrojo por la ventana. Eso es lo que yo quiero.

I'd love to cook a stew for you, But I have no pot. Id love to knit a scarf for you, But I have no wool. I'd love to write a poem for you, But I have no pen. "It's called 'I Have Nothing'," Midori announced.

Ok I'm not so smart I'm working class. But it's the working class that keeps the world running and it's the working class that get exploited. What kind revolution is it that just throws out big words that working class people can't understand. Revolution or not the working class will just keep on scraping a living in the same old shitholes I'm not going to believe in any damned revolution. Love is all I'm going to believe in. -- Midori

Where was I now? I had no idea. No idea at all. Where was this place? All that flashed into my eyes were the countless shapes of people walking by to nowhere. Again and again, I called out to Midori from the dead center of this place that was no place.

–Me gustas como un oso en primavera. –¿«Un oso en primavera»? –Midori volvió a levantar la cabeza–. ¿Qué es esto? ¡«Un oso en primavera»! –Imagina que paseas sola por un prado y se te acerca un osito con la piel aterciopelada y unos ojazos. De pronto el osito te dice: «¡Buenos días, señorita! ¿Quiere usted rodar conmigo?». Entonces tú y el osito os pasáis el día entero rodando abrazados por una ladera sembrada de tréboles. Es bonito, ¿no? –Muy bonito. –Pues a mí me gustas tanto como eso.

-Neredesin şimdi? diye sakin bir sesle sordu bana. Neredeydim? Almaç elimde, başımı kaldırıp telefon kulübesinin çevresine baktım. Neredeydim? Nerede bulunduğumu hiç mi hiç bilmiyordum. Hiçbir fikrim yoktu bu konuda. Neresiydi burası acaba? Sadece yürüyen sayısız gölge görüyordum. Hiç var olmamış bir yerin ortasında, Midori'yi çağırıyordum.

People are strange when you're a stranger. " "Peace," said Midori. "Peace," I said.

Naoko was dead and Midori was still here. naoko was a mound of white ash and Midori was a living, breathing human being.

I loved Midori. And I had probably known as much for a while. I had just been avoiding the conclusion for a very long time.

I have always loved Naoko, and I still loved her. But there is a decisive finality to what exists between Midori and me.

(...) o amor faz-se de pequenos nadas. Ou então não é amor." - Midori

You are a weird one. Making jokes with a perfectly straight face.

I really like you, Midori. A lot.” “How much is a lot?” “Like a spring bear,

How much do you love me?” Midori asked. “Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter,

That does it for me, then. I’m not going to believe in any damned revolution. Love is all I’m going to believe in.' 'Peace,' I said. 'Peace,' said Midori.

Well, it's just that life has been too cruel to us till now,' Midori said. 'But that's O.K. We're gonna get back everything it owes us.

Hey, are we counter-revolutionaries?" Midori asked me when we were outside. "Are we going to be strung upon telephone poles if the revolution succeeds?" "Let's have lunch first, just in case.

Sometimes, when the world gets too hard to live in, I come here for a vodka and a tonic." "Does the world get hard to live in?" "Sometimes," said Midori. "I've got my own special little problems.

You’re really cute,” I said. “ – Midori,” she said. “Say my name.” “You’re really cute, Midori,” I corrected myself. “What do you mean really cute?” “So cute the mountains crumble and the oceans dry up.

Si sientes dolor por la muerte de Naoko, siéntelo el resto de tu vida. Y si algo puedes aprender de este dolor, apréndelo. Pero intenta ser feliz con Midori [...] Aunque sea duro, trata de ser fuerte. Crece, madura

One guy yelled at me, 'You stupid bitch, how do you live like that with nothing in your brain?' Well, that did it. I wasn't going to put up with that. OK, so I'm not so smart. I'm working class. But it's the working class that keeps the world running, and it's the working classes that get exploited. What kind of revolution is it that just throws out big words that working-class people can't understand? What kind of crap social revolution is that? I mean, I'd like to make the world a better place, too. If somebody's really being exploited, we've got to put a stop to it. That's what I believe, and that's why I ask questions. (...) So that's when it hit me. These guys are fakes. All they've got on their minds is impressing the new girls with the big words they're so proud of, while sticking their hands up their skirts.(...) They marry pretty wives who've never read Marx and have kids they give fancy new names to that are enough to make you puke. Smash what educational-industrial complex? Don't make me laugh! (...) They're scared to death somebody's gonna find out they don't know something. They all read the same books and they all spout the same slogans, and they love listening to John Coltrane and seeing Pasolini movies. You call that 'revolution'? (...) Revolution or not, the working class will just keep on scraping a living in the same old shitholes. And what is a revolution? It sure as hell isn't just changing the name on city hall. But those guys don't know that - those guys with their big words.

So how did you lose so much weight?" "By growing up,"I said. Midori put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye with a twisted scowl that soon turned into a sweet smile. "It's true," she said. "Something's kind of different. You've changed.

I have always loved Naoko, and I still love her. But there is a decisive finality to what exists between Midori and me. It has an irrestistible power that is bound to sweep me into the future. What I feel for Naoko is a tremendously quiet and gentle and transparent love

It’s true I’ve got a cold streak. I recognize that. But if they—my father and mother—had loved me a little more, I would have been able to feel more—to feel real sadness, for example.” “Do you think you weren’t loved enough?” She tilted her head and looked at me. Then she gave a sharp, little nod. “Somewhere between ‘not enough’ and ‘not at all.’ I was always hungry for love. Just once, I wanted to know what it was like to get my fill of it—to be fed so much love I couldn’t take any more. Just once. But they never gave that to me. Never, not once. If I tried to cuddle up and beg for something, they’d just shove me away and yell at me. ‘No! That costs too much!’ It’s all I ever heard. So I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally three hundred and sixty-five days a year. I was still in elementary school at the time—fifth or sixth grade—but I made up my mind once and for all.” “Wow,” I said. “And did your search pay off?” “That’s the hard part,” said Midori. She watched the rising smoke for a while, thinking. “I guess I’ve been waiting so long I’m looking for perfection. That makes it tough.” “Waiting for the perfect love?” “No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don’t want it anymore and throw it out the window. That’s what I’m looking for.” “I’m not sure that has anything to do with love,” I said with some amazement. “It does,” she said. “You just don’t know it. There are times in a girl’s life when things like that are incredibly important.” “Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?” “Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. ‘Now I see, Midori. What a fool I’ve been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I’ll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate mousse? Cheesecake?’” “So then what?” “So then I’d give him all the love he deserves for what he’s done.” “Sounds crazy to me.” “Well, to me, that’s what love is. Not that anyone can understand me, though.” Midori gave her head a little shake against my shoulder. “For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn’t begin at all.” “I’ve never met a girl who thinks like you.

You made your decision long before Naoko died - that you could never leave Midori. Whether Naoko is alive or dead, it has nothing to do with your decision. You chose Midori. Naoko chose to die. You're all grown up now, so you have to take responsibility for your choices. Otherwise, you ruin everything.

We’re finally getting used to it, though,” she said. “This is the way we should have been living all along—not having to worry about anyone else’s needs, just stretching out any way we felt like it. It made us both nervous at first, like our bodies were floating a couple of inches off the floor. It didn’t seem real, like real life couldn’t really be like that. We were both tense, like everything was gonna get tipped upside down any minute.” “A couple of worrywarts,” I said with a smile. “Well, it’s just that life has been too cruel to us till now,” Midori said. “But that’s O.K. We’re gonna get back everything it owes us.

Midori chugged down another glass of water, took a breath, and studied my face for a while. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?” she asked. “You’ve got this spaced-out look. Your eyes aren’t focused.” “I’m O.K.,” I said. “I just got back from a trip and I’m kinda tired.” “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” “I see.

You know, they've got these chocolate assortments, and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. 'Now I just have to polish these off, and everything'll be OK.' Life is a box of chocolates.

Busco la perfección. Por eso es tan difícil. –¿Un amor perfecto? –¡No! No pido tanto. Lo que quiero es simple egoísmo. Un egoísmo perfecto. Por ejemplo: te digo que quiero un pastel de fresa, y entonces tú lo dejas todo y vas a comprármelo. Vuelves jadeando y me lo ofreces. «Toma, Midori. Tu pastel de fresa», me dices. Y te suelto: «¡Ya se me han quitado las ganas de comérmelo!». Y lo arrojo por la ventana. Eso es lo que yo quiero. –No creo que eso sea el amor -le dije con semblante atónito. –Sí tiene que ver. Pero tú no lo sabes -replicó Midori-. Para las chicas, a veces esto tiene una gran importancia. –¿Arrojar pasteles de fresa por la ventana? –Sí. Y yo quiero que mi novio me diga lo siguiente: «Ha sido culpa mía. Tendría que haber supuesto que se te quitarían las ganas de comer pastel de fresa. Soy un estúpido, un insensible. Iré a comprarte otra cosa para que me perdones. ¿Qué te apetece? ¿Mousse de chocolate? ¿Tarta de queso?». –¿Y qué sucedería a continuación? –Pues que yo a una persona que hiciera esto por mí la querría mucho.

...Nắm chặt ống nghe trong tay, tôi ngẩng lên và nhìn quanh xem có những gì bên ngoài trạm điện thoại. Tôi đang ở đâu? Tôi không biết. Không biết một tí gì hết. Đây là nơi nào? Tất cả những gì đang lướt nhanh qua mắt tôi chỉ là vô số những hình nhân đang bước đi về nơi vô định nào chẳng biết. Tôi gọi Midori, gọi mãi, từ giữa ổ lòng lặng ngắt của chốn vô định ấy...

Without warning, she asked me, “Hey, Watanabe, can you explain the difference between the English subjunctive present and the subjunctive past?” “I think I can,” I said. “Let me ask you, then, what purpose does stuff like that serve in daily life?” “None at all,” I said. “It may not serve any concrete purpose, but it does give you some kind of training to help you grasp things in general more systematically.” Midori took a moment to give that some serious thought. “You’re amazing,” she said. “That never occurred to me before. I always thought of things like the subjunctive case and differential calculus and chemical symbols as totally useless. A pain in the neck. So I’ve always ignored them. Now I have to wonder if my whole life has been a mistake.

Now get this straight, Watanabe," said Midori, pointing at me. "I'm warning you, I've got a whole month's worth of misery crammed inside me and getting ready to blow. So watch what you say to me. Any more of that kind of stuff and I'll flood this place with tears. Once I get started, I'm good for the whole night. Are you ready for that? I'm an absolute animal when I start crying, it doesn't matter where I am! I'm not joking.

-İnadına sevimlisin, biliyorsun. -Midori,diye ekledi.Adımı söyle. -İnadına sevimlisin,biliyorsun Midori,diye düzelttim. -İnadına, ne demek? -Yani dağları devirecek, denizi kurutacak derecede demek. Midori başını kaldırıp bana baktı: -Gerçekten de derdini anlatma biçimin benzersiz. -Bunu söylediğini duymak beni rahatlatıyor,dedim gülerek. -Bana daha şirin şeyler söyle. -Seni çok severim,biliyorsun,Midori. -Nasıl,çok? -Seni ilkbahardaki bir ayı kadar severim. -İlkbahardaki ayı mı? (Midori gene başını kaldırdı.) Ne söylemek istiyorsun, ilkbahardaki ayı derken? -Şöyle ki, ilkbaharda bir çayırda tek başına yürürsün ve karşıdan küçük bir ayının geldiğini görürsün, kadife gibi yumuşacık kürküyle ve küçücük, yuvarlak gözleriyle. Ve sana, birlikte otlarda yuvarlanmayı önerir. O zaman gün boyu tepenin yamacındaki yoncaların arasında birbirinizin kollarında eğlenir durursunuz.Şirin, değil mi?

I can't forgive myself. You tell me there's nothing I can do about a natural change in feelings, but my relationship with Naoko was not that simple. If you stop and think about it, she and I were bound together at the border between life and death. It was like that for us from the start." "If you feel some kind of pain with regard to Naoko's death, I would advise you to keep on feeling that pain for the rest of your life. And if there's something you can learn from it, you should do that, too. But quite aside from that, you should be happy with Midori. Your pain has nothing to do with your relationship with her. If you hurt her any more than you already have, the wound could be too deep to fix. So, hard as it may be, you have to be strong. You have to grow up more, be more of an adult. I left the sanatorium and came all the way up here to Tokyo to tell you that---all the way on that coffin of a train.

Benim kişisel duygum, Midori enikonu sıradışı bir kız olmalı. Mektuplarınızı okurken, ona aşık olduğunuzu iyice anladım. Naoko'ya aşık olduğunuzu da kabul ediyorum. Ve bu sizin suçunuz değil. Böyle şeyler sık sık oluyor. Çok güzel bir havada çok güzel bir gölde gemiyle gezmek kadar basit bir şey. Gökyüzü pırıl pırıl, manzara göz kamaştırıcı. Bu yüzden, böyle acı çekmekten vazgeçeceksiniz. İnsan kendini bırakınca işler olması gerektiği gibi gider ve ne yaparsanız yapın, insanlar kırılınca kırılmıştır demektir. Yaşam böyle. Belki size biraz çok bilmiş gibi görünebilirim, ama sanırım sizin de başınızın çaresine bakmanızın zamanı yakında gelip çatacaktır: Kimi zaman yaşamı, istediğiniz biçime sokmak için fazla zorluyorsunuz. Eğer bir akıl hastanesine girmek istemiyorsanız, yüreğinizi biraz daha açmanız ve kendinizi olayların akışına bırakmanız gerekli. Güçsüz ve kusurlu bir kadın olsam da kimi zaman yaşamın olağanüstü güzel bir şey olması gerektiğini düşündüğüm oluyor! Size yemin ederim ki doğru bu. O halde sizin çok daha mutlu olmanız gerekir. Mutlu olmak için çaba gösterin.

Know what I did the other day?" Midori asked. "I got all naked in front of my father's picture. Took off every stitch of clothing and let him have a good, long look. Kind of in a yoga position. Like, 'Here, Daddy, these are my tits, and this is my cunt'." "Why in the hell would you do something like that?" I asked. "I don't know, I just wanted to show him. I mean, half of me comes from his sperm, right? Why shouldn't I show him? 'Here's the daughter you made.' I was a little drunk at the time. I suppose that had something to do with it.

–Dime más cosas bonitas. –Me gustas, Midori. –¿Cuánto? –Me gustas como un oso en primavera. –¿«Un oso en primavera»? –Midori volvió a levantar la cabeza–. ¿Qué es esto? ¡«Un oso en primavera»! –Imagina que paseas sola por un prado y se te acerca un osito cn la piel aterciopelada y unos ojazos. De pronto el osito te dice: «¡Buenos fías señorita! ¿Quiere usted rodar conmigo?» Entonces tú y el osito os pasais el día entero rodando abrazados por una ladera sembrada de tréboles. Es bonito, ¿no? –Muy bonito. –Pues a mi me gustas tanto como eso.

What I feel for Naoko is a tremendously quiet and gentle and transparent love, but what I feel for Midori is a wholly different emotion. It stands and walks on its own, living and breathing and throbbing and shaking me to the roots of my being. I don’t know what to do. I’m confused. I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but I do believe that I have lived as sincerely as I knew how. I have never lied to anyone, and I have taken care over the years not to hurt other people. And yet I find myself having been tossed into this labyrinth. How

Girls are supposed to be a little more elegant when they put out their cigarettes. You did that like a lumberjack. You shouldn't just cram it down in the ashtray but press it lightly around the edges of the ash. Then it doesn't get all bent up. And girls are never supposed to blow smoke through their noses. And most girls wouldn't talk about how they wore the same bra for three months when they're eating alone with a man." "I am a lumberjack," Midori said, scratching next to her nose. "I can never manage to be chic. I try it as a joke sometimes, but it never sticks. Any more critiques for me?

- Davvero ti piaccio così come sono? - Non saprei proprio in cosa potresti cambiare, mi vai bene così - Allora dimmi invece quanto ti piaccio, - disse Midori. - Quanto tutto il burro che si potrebbe produrre se si sciogliessero tutte le tigri di tutte le giungle del mondo - Humm, - sospirò Midori quasi soddisfatta. - Mi abbracci un'altra volta? Ci stendemmo sul suo letto e ci abbracciammo stretti. Sotto le coperte, cullati dal rumore della pioggia, ci baciammo sulle labbra e poi parlammo di tutti gli argomenti possibili e immaginabili, dalla formazione della terra al giusto grado di cottura delle uova sode.

Mi piaci tanto, Midori.” “Tanto quanto?” “Tanto quanto un orso in primavera.” “Un orso in primavera?” chiese lei sollevando di nuovo la testa. “Come sarebbe "un orso in primavera"?” “Un orso in primavera... allora, tu stai passeggiando da sola per i campi quando a un tratto vedi arrivare nella tua direzione un orso adorabile dalla pelliccia vellutata e dagli occhi simpatici, che ti fa: "Senta, signorina, non le andrebbe di rotolarsi un po' con me sull"erba?". Tu e l"orsetto vi abbracciate e giocate a rotolare giù lungo il pendio tutto ricoperto di trifogli per ore e ore. Carino, no?” “Carinissimo.” “Ecco, tu mi piaci tanto così.

Dimmi qualcosa di ancora più carino." "Mi piaci tanto, Midori. " "Tanto quanto?" "Tanto quanto un orso in primavera." "Un orso in primavera?" chiese lei sollevando di nuovo la testa. "Come sarebbe 'un orso in primavera'?" "Un orso in primavera... allora, tu stai passeggiando da sola per i campi quando a un tratto vedi arrivare nella tua direzione un orso adorabile dalla pelliccia vellutata e dagli occhi simpatici, che ti fa: 'Senta, signorina, non le andrebbe di rotolarsi un po' con me sull'erba?'. Tu e l'orsetto vi abbracciate e giocate a rotolare giù lungo il pendio tutto ricoperto di trifogli per ore e ore. Carino, no?" "Carinissimo." "Ecco, tu mi piaci tanto così.

AFTER GERMAN we caught a bus to Shinjuku and went to an underground bar called DUG behind the Kinokuniya bookstore. We each started with two vodka and tonics. “I come here once in a while,” she said. “They don’t embarrass you about drinking in the afternoon.” “Do you drink in the afternoon a lot?” “Sometimes,” she said, rattling the ice in her glass. “Sometimes, when the world gets hard to live in, I come here for a vodka and tonic.” “Does the world get hard to live in?” “Sometimes,” said Midori. “I’ve got my own special little problems.” “Like what?” “Like family, like boyfriends, like irregular periods. Stuff.” “So have another drink.” “I will.” I waved the waiter over and ordered two more vodka and tonics.

I was getting more and more confused, so I went to him and asked him what I should do. He told me to stop seeing you. He said if I was going to see you, I should break up with him." "So what did you do?" "I broke up with him. Just like that." Midori put a Malboro in her mouth, shielded it with her hand as she lit up, and inhaled. "Why?" “Why?!" she screamed. "Are you crazy? You know the English subjunctive, you understand trigonometry, you can read Marx, and you don't know the answer to something as simple as that? Why do you even have to ask? Why do you have to make a girl SAY something like this? I like you more than I like him, that's all. I wish I had fallen in love with somebody a little more handsome, of course. But I didn't. I fell in love with you!

After she had gone through most of the songs she knew, she sang an old one that she said she had written herself. I’d love to cook a stew for you But I have no pot. I’d love to knit a scarf for you But I have no wool. I’d love to write a poem for you But I have no pen. “It’s called ‘I Have Nothing,’” Midori announced. It was a truly terrible song, both words and music. I listened to this musical mess with thoughts of how the house would blow apart in the explosion if the gas station caught fire. Tired of singing, Midori put her guitar down and slumped against my shoulder like a cat in the sun. “How did you like my song?” she asked. I answered cautiously, “It was unique and original and very expressive of your personality.” “Thanks,” she said. “The theme is that I have nothing.” “Yeah, I kinda thought so.

For a while, neither [Midori] nor her sister could get used to apartment life – because it was too easy, she said. They had always been used to running around like crazy every day, taking care of sick people, helping out at the bookstore, and one thing or another. "We're finally getting used to it, though," she said. "This is the way we should have been living all along – not having to worry about anyone else's needs, just stretching out any way we felt like it. It made us both nervous at first, like our bodies were floating a couple of inches off the floor. It didn't seem real, like real life couldn't really be like that. We were both tense, like everything was gonna get tipped upside down any minute." "A couple of worrywarts," I said with a smile. "Well, it's just that life has been too cruel to us till now," Midori said. "But that's O.K. We're gonna get back everything it owes us.

But I’m so lonely! I want to be with someone! I know I’m doing terrible things to you, making demands and not giving you anything in return, saying whatever pops into my head, dragging you out of your room and forcing you to take me everywhere, but you’re the only one I can do stuff like that to! I’ve never been able to have my own way with anybody, not once in the 20 years I’ve been alive. My father, my mother, they never paid the slightest attention to me, and my boyfriend, well, he’s just not that kind of guy. He gets angry if I try to have my own way. So we end up fighting. You’re the only one I can say these things to. And now I’m really, really, really tired and I want to fall asleep listening to someone tell me how much they like me and how pretty I am and stuff. That’s all I want. And when I wake up, I’ll be full of energy and I’ll never make these kinds of selfish demands again.

Tôi đã luôn yêu Naoko, và tôi vẫn yêu cô ấy. Nhưng giữa Midori và tôi lại tồn tại một cái gì đó như định mệnh. Nó có sức mạnh không thể cưỡng lại được và nhất định sẽ cuốn tôi đến tương lai. Cái mà tôi cảm thấy với Naoko là một tình yêu trong vắt, dịu dàng, và yên tĩnh vô cùng. Nhưng cái mà tôi có với Midori lại là một tình cảm khác hẳn. Nó đi theo ý riêng của nó, sống động và hít thở và phập phồng và lay động tôi cho đến tận cội rễ của bản thể. Tôi không biết phải làm gì. Tôi hoang mang rồi. Tôi sẽ không phân bua gì cho mình đâu, nhưng tôi tin chắc là mình đã sống chân thực như mình vẫn biết. Tôi chưa bao giờ nói dối ai, và bao năm nay vẫn luôn cẩn trọng không làm cho ai phải đau khổ. Vậy mà tôi thấy mình bị ném vào cái mê cung này đây. Sao lại cỏ thể thế được? Tôi không lí giải nổi. Tôi không biết mình phải làm gì. Reiko, chị có thể nói cho tôi biết được không? Chị là người duy nhất tôi có thể trông cậy để được khuyên bảo..." (Thư gửi Reiko Ishida. Toru Wantanabe)

Tell me about yourself," Midori said. "What about me?" "Hmm, I don't know, what do you hate?" "Chicken and VD and barbers who talk too much." "What else?" "Lonely April nights and lacy telephone covers." "What else?" I shook my head. "I can't think of anything else." "My boyfriend - which is to say, my ex-boyfriend - had all kinds of things he hated. Like when I wore too-short skirts, or when I smoked, or how I got drunk too quickly, or said disgusting things, or criticized his friends. So if there's anything about me you don't like, just tell me, and I'll fix it if I can." "I can't think of anything," I said after giving it some thought. "There's nothing." "Really?" "I like everything you wear, and I like what you do and say and how you walk and how you get drunk. Everything." "You mean I'm really OK just the way I am?" "I don't know how you could change, so you must be fine the way you are." "How much do you love me?" Midori asked. "Enough to melt all the tigers in the world to butter," I said. "Far out," she said with a hint of satisfaction.

I guess I've been waiting so long I'm looking for perfection. That makes it tough." "Waiting for the perfect love?" "No, even I know better than that. I'm looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you're doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don't want it anymore and throw it out the window. That's what I'm looking for." "I'm not sure that has anything to do with love," I said with amazement. "It does," she said. "You just don't know it. There are times in a girl's life when things like that are incredibly important." "Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?" "Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. 'Now I see, Midori. What a fool I've been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I'll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate mousse? Cheesecake?' " "So then what?" "So then I'd give him all the love he deserves for what he's done." "Sounds crazy to me." "Well, to me, that's what love is. Not that anyone can understand me though." Midori gave her head a little shake against my shoulder. "For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn't begin at all.

Waiting for the perfect love?” “No, even I know better than that. I’m looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you’re doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don’t want it anymore and throw it out the window. That’s what I’m looking for.” “I’m not sure that has anything to do with love,” I said with some amazement. “It does,” she said. “You just don’t know it. There are time in a girl’s life when things like that are incredibly important.” “Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?” “Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. “Now I see, Midori. What a fool I have been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I’ll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate Mousse? Cheesecake?” “So then what?” “So then I’d give him all the love he deserves for what he’s done.” “Sounds crazy to me.” “Well, to me, that’s what love is…

Well, to me, that’s what love is. Not that anyone can understand me, though.” Midori gave her head a little shake against my shoulder. “For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn’t begin at all.