Katagiri pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and struck a match. He saw his hand trembling as he lit up. Seated opposite him, Frog seemed to be studying his every movement. found the courage to ask. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha! What a wonderful sense of humor you have, Mr. Katagiri!” Frog said, slapping his webbed hand against his thigh. “There may be a shortage of skilled labor, but what gang is going to hire a frog to do their dirty work? They’d be made a laughingstock.”“Well, if you’re here to negotiate a repayment, you’re ■ w your time. I have no authority to make such decisions. Only my superiors can do that, I just follow orders. I can’t do a thing for you.” “Please, Mr. Katagiri,” Frog said, raising one webbed finger. “I have not come here on such petty business. I am fully aware that you are Assistant Chief of the lending division of the Shinjuku branch of the Tokyo Security Trust Bank. But (ii) [ visit / do / repayment / to / the / of / nothing / with / has / my ] loans. I have come here to save Tokyo from destruction.” Katagiri scanned the room for a hidden TV camera in case he was being made the butt of some huge, terrible joke. But there was no camera. It was a small apartment. There was no place for anyone to hide. “No,” Frog said. “We are the only ones here. I know you are thinking that I must be mad or that you are having some kind of dream, but I am not crazy and you are not dreaming. This is absolutely, positively serious.” “To tell you the truth, Mr. Frog--.” “Please,” Frog said, raising one finger again. “Call me ‘Frog’.” “To tell you the truth, Frog,” Katagiri said, “I can’t quite understand what is going on here. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t seem to be able to grasp the situation exactly. Do you mind if I ask you a question or two?”“Not at all, not at all,” Frog said. “Mutual understanding is of ❹critical importance. There are those who say that ‘understanding’ is merely the sum total of our misunderstandings, and while I do find this view interesting in its own way, I am afraid we have no time to spare on pleasant ❺digressions. The best thing would be for us to achieve mutual understanding via the shortest possible route. Therefore, by all means, ask as many questions as you wish.”“Now; you are a real frog, am I right?” “Yes, of course, as you can see. A real frog is exactly what I am. A product neither of metaphor nor allusion nor deconstruction nor sampling nor any other such complex process, I am a ■ ge frog. Shall I croak for you?” Frog tilted back his head and flexed the muscles of his huge throat. Ribbit, Ri-i-i-bit, Ribbit ribbit ribbit Ribbit Ribbit Ri-i-i bit. His gigantic croaks rattled the pictures hanging on the walls. house in which he lived. “That’s great. You are, without question a real frog.”“You don’t happen to be connected with some kind of gang by any chance?” Katagiri “Fine, I see, I see!” Katagiri said, ■ w about the thin walls of the cheap apartment −11−
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