THE TRAIN came out of the long tunnel into the snow country.

THE TRAIN came out of the long tunnel into the snow country.

Along the coast the sea roars, and inland the mountains roar – the roaring at the center, like a distant clap of thunder.

They were words that came out of nothing, but they seemed to him somehow significant. He muttered them over again.

Put your soul in the palm of my hand for me to look at, like a crystal jewel. I'll sketch it in words.

From the way of Go the beauty of Japan and the Orient had fled. Everything had become science and regulation.

The road was frozen. The village lay quiet under the cold sky. Komako hitched up the skirt of her kimono and tucked it into her obi. The moon shone like a blade frozen in blue ice.