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‘Don’t worry. It’s all a bluff. Behind a big impressive gate lives many a sorry excuse for a man.’
‘Even if we were told to leave now, I’m not sure that I would be able find my way back,’ whispered Rintaro. ‘Don’t worry, Mr Proprietor,’ said the cat glancing up at the boy, ‘I have no idea how to get out of here either.’
‘It’s not true that the more you read, the more you see of the world. No matter how much knowledge you cram into your head, unless you think with your own mind, walk with your own feet, the knowledge you acquire will never be anything more than empty and borrowed.’
‘Books can’t live your life for you. The reader who forgets to walk on his own two feet is like an old encyclopaedia, his head stuffed with out-of-date information. Unless someone else opens it up, it’s nothing but a useless antique.’
Hurrying means that you miss out on many things. Riding a train will take you far, but it’s a misconception to think that this will give you more insight. Flowers in the hedgerow and birds in the treetops are accessible only to the person who walks on their own two feet.
‘My grandpa used to say once you got thinking about money there was no end to it. If you have one million yen, then you want two. If you have a hundred million then you want two hundred. So better to stop focusing on money and talk instead about the books we read today. Like you, I believe that bookshops need to turn a profit. But I do know that there are things just as important as making money.’
But time is merciless in its passing. This was something that Rintaro understood all too well. No matter how sad, how painful, how nonsensical a thing might happen, time refused to stand still and wait for him. Somehow he had just drifted along until here he was today.
‘Books are filled with human thoughts and feelings. People suffering, people who are sad or happy, laughing with joy. By reading their words and their stories, by experiencing them together, we learn about the hearts and minds of other people besides ourselves. Thanks to books, it’s possible to learn not only about the people around us every day, but people living in totally different worlds.’
‘Calling you three times a week might be a bit tricky.’ ‘Hmm. I wonder which is trickier – that or calling a removal firm to cancel a contract one hour before they’re due to arrive? Would you care to swap places?’ His aunt was clever, too.
‘You want to have dinner with me?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because if I waited for you to ask me it would never happen.’
