Читать книгу Kibun Daizin; Or, From Shark-Boy to Merchant Prince онлайн

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“Yes—a young man from the brewery,” said Sadakichi. “He had some barrels in his boat, and he had gone only two or three hundred yards when the shark came up and overturned his boat and seized him.”

“It doesn’t matter about the dragon-fly; I don’t want it; let us go back to the house.” And the little child, frightened in good earnest, took hold of Bunkichi’s arm.

It was the first time Bunkichi had heard about the wanizame. “Is it really true, miss, that there is a wanizame in the bay?” he asked.

“Yes; I can tell you it’s very serious. I don’t know how many people it has eaten in the last month.”

“Really! But how big is it?”

“I don’t know what you would call big,” broke in Sadakichi. “But it’s about as big as this house. If it sees a small boat, it overtakes it in no time and topples it over, and if it is a big boat it gets in the way and stops it so that it can’t move, and so the fishermen can’t go out, and no cargo can come into the port. I suppose it must be want of food that has brought it into this harbor; but, however that may be, it thinks nothing of upsetting the small craft, so that for a month no one has ventured out at all. Well, there was the brewer’s man. Yesterday he thought it would be safe to go just a short distance, but he very soon got swallowed up. And what is the consequence? Why, the fishing is stopped, and there’s no trade, and the place is going to ruin. The fishermen and hunters have tried over and over again to kill it with spikes and guns and with all kinds of things. But what is the use? Their weapons only snap in two or glance off its back, and they only get killed themselves. So they have given up trying.”