ABSTRACT
Kanji went out again that afternoon, a troubled expression on his face as he walked, head bent forward, along the path. The warm sunlight had already begun drying out the soil in the upland fields. Mere specks of white a short while before, the flowers on the magnolia trees that dotted the village had opened fully and seemed to be floating in the blue sky. Green finches darted from the sunshine into the dark bamboo thickets as if oblivious to the difference between winter and spring, but within moments they came hopping back across the ground toward the light. Nothing could resist the warmth.
