Wager in Mid-air 187
my footing and go plunging headlong into space. At the thought, a cold sweat ran over my whole body. My hands were particularly clammy and I was certain that they would slip as I grasped the rungs above. If only I could wipe them or rub them with sand….
Looking up, I saw that Kichikō had reached the top of the chimney. He was standing on the narrow bricklayers’ platform that surrounded it and leaning with both his hands on a low, perilous railing. He looked round at the scenery. Now Chō reached the top and joined Kichikō in admiring the view. From time to time they glanced down the side of the chimney to see how I was getting on.
Finally I reached the top. It was broader than I had imagined while climbing—about six feet in diameter. My legs were twitching with a sort of cramp and I realized that I could not possibly stand on the platform with the other two. Instead I squatted down carefully on the wooden boards and held on to the bottom of the railing with both hands. My teeth chattered and my whole body was trembling.
I no longer cared in the slightest what impression I was making on my companions. My only object now was to elicit their sympathy so that they might somehow help me to reach the ground safely. Normally they would have laughed to see me in this condition and probably they would have teased me. But now they just glanced at me occasionally without smiling or saying anything, as if it was quite normal that I should be in such a state. In some way, this attitude of theirs added still further to my anxiety. I should almost have welcomed some normal bantering. Instead I heard Chō saying, “Take a look over there, Kichi. The sea’s come right up close, hasn’t it. And look at those trams. They’re just like little crawling bugs… What’s that tower over there?”
“That’s the twelve-storied pagoda of Asakusa,” answered Kichikō nonchalantly.
I just stared straight down at the wooden boards. My head was blank and there was a haze in front of my eyes. Yet I could
