(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)
(Return to story)
5. Colorado Plateau (Return to story)
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic region within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, and northern Arizona in the United States. The Colorado Plateau is largely made up of high desert, with brightly colored rock left bare to the view by dryness and erosion. In the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau lies the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, to which much of the Plateau's landscape is related, in both appearance and geologic history
(Return to story)
6. New World Symphony (Return to story)
Symphony No. 9, popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. Dvořák stated that he drew inspiration for the symphony from Native American and African-American spirituals that he heard in America.
(Return to story)
7. Indian (constellation of Indus) – (Indian-za) (Return to story)
Indus is a constellation in the southern sky and was not known to classical or early cultures. It was designated in the late sixteenth century and represents an Indian, a word that could refer at that time, to any native of Asia or the Americas.
The Indian is portrayed brandishing a spear as though hunting. It is not known if he is supposed to be a native of Madagascar, where the Dutch fleet stayed for several months on their way east and made many of their astronomical observations, or a native of the East Indies or southern Africa.
(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)
(Return to story)
8. Crane (constellation of Grus) - (Tsuru-za) (Return to story)
Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. One of the 12 constellations introduced at the end of the 16th century by the Dutch navigators after their pioneer observations of the southern skies. Grus represents a long-necked wading bird, the crane.
(courtesy of Ian Ridpath's Star Tales (www.ianridpath.com)
(Return to story)
9. Twin Stars (Return to story)
A reference to Kenji's own short story Twin Stars, which is believed to be about the two stars Lambda Scorpii and Upsilon Scorpii which make up the sting in the constellation Scorpius. In the story the two twins live in a crystal palace, playing their flutes made of silver at night to the tune of the Star Safari song when everybody is looking up at them, and wandering playfully through the sky during the daytime when no one can see them.
(Return to story)
10. Scorpion (constellation of Scorpius) – (Sasori-za) (Return to story)
Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way. In Greek Mythology, Artemis sends a scorpion to fight with Orion. The pair battled and the scorpion defeated Orion. Later, Zeus raised the scorpion to heaven and afterwards, at the request of Artemis, did the same for Orion to serve as a reminder for mortals to curb their excessive pride.
(Return to story)
11. Centaurus (Constellation of Centaurus) – (Kentaurusu-za) (Return to story)
Centaurus is a bright constellation in the southern sky. The name is derived from the mythical beast Centaur, which in Greek Mythology was a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.
Night on the Milky Way Railway occurs on the night of the fictional Centaur Festival. The position of this constellation in the sky is close to the Southern Cross and the Coal Sack.
(Return to story)
12. Southern Cross (constellation of Crux) – (Minami-juji-za) (Return to story)
Crux is one of the smallest constellations, but is one of the most distinctive due to it featuring the Southern Cross asterism. Crux is easily visible from the southern hemisphere at practically any time of year. It is also visible near the horizon from tropical latitudes of the northern hemisphere for a few hours every night during the northern winter and spring.
Crux is bordered by the constellations Centaurus (which surrounds it on three sides) and Musca.
(Return to story)
13. Coalsack (Coalsack Nebula) – (sekitan-bukuro) (Return to story)
The Coalsack is the most prominent dark nebula (a type of interstellar cloud) in the skies, easily visible to the naked eye as a dark patch silhouetted against the southern Milky Way. The Coalsack is located in the constellation Crux (Southern Cross).
(Return to story)
The Cello Voice
When Kenji revised his manuscript for this story, he made a number of changes, including removing reference to a man who had a voice like a cello. This is a translation of all references to the Cello Man.
Cello Voice 1 (end of Chapter 5 & beginning of Chapter 6)
(Note that in the earlier version, it is the mushroom-like stars of Lyra that become the signal tower, not the weather wheel monument)
To Giovanni's great surprise, that pale-blue mushroom-shaped light suddenly took on the distinct shape of a signal tower and for several moments flashed on and off like a firefly, before finally coming to a complete standstill, standing upright in the dark steel-blue field in the sky. There it stood, upright, all on its own, in the field in the sky that was like a sheet of blue steel that has just emerged from a furnace.
"Wait a minute!" cried Giovanni to no one in particular. "How can that light turn into a signal tower that looks like it were made from chocolate?"
Just then, from a far, far distant place, as if from the midst of a vast fog came a deep voice that rumbled like a cello.
"Light is just one kind of energy. Candy and signal towers are different combinations of energy, and they've been combined in different ways. As long as such a law exists, then light can become candy. It's just that you've never been in a place with such rules before. The rules here are completely different."
Giovanni had a weird feeling that he kind of understood and didn't understand at the same time, as he continued staring at the signal tower.
Cello Voice 2 (beginning of Chapter 6)
That light truly became a single wide ribbon, and here and there, it began to branch out, growing brighter as it divided itself up, flowing further and further south, through the field in the sky.
That's water flowing over that sparkling sand, thought Giovanni.
Soon after came that voice like a cello once more.
"Water you say? Are you sure about that?"
Giovanni stood up on tippy toes to try and get a better view, but he couldn't make it out clearly.
"I don't know if it is water, or what it is, but it is definitely flowing," murmured Giovanni to himself. "It looks just as if it were the wind. It is so clear; and so light."
Cello Voice 3 (toward the end of Chapter 6)
"I wonder if it runs on alcohol or electricity?" said Campanella.
Then, from a far, far distant place, as if from the midst of a vast fog came a deep voice that rumbled like a cello.
"This train doesn't run on steam or electricity. It simply moves because it is in its nature to do so. To you, it seems as if it makes a rattling sound like a train; but that is only because you are used to hearing trains that make that noise."
"I've heard that voice somewhere, many times before."
"Me too. I've heard it often in the forest and down by the river."
Cello Voice 4 (middle of Chapter 9)
"Look, there are peacocks there. I can see peacocks!"
"Oh that forest must be Lyra. I'm sure that in that forest, there must be lots of musicians in a really big orchestra, ever since ancient times. All around it I can see blue peacocks."
Just then, far downstream, Giovanni caught a glimpse of something very strange. What he saw was black and shiny, and long and thin, and it was leaping out from the invisible water of the Ce
lestial River, moving forward in the shape of an archer's bow, and then hiding itself back in the water. How strange, thought Giovanni, but now he noticed that it was happening right in front of him too. And before long, the river was filled with the sight of this strange looking, shiny black creature, leaping from the water, flying through the air like a ball, and then diving back into the water head first. They all seemed to be swimming up river like so many fish.
"Wow, what is that? Tadashi, look at this. There's so many of them. What do you think they are?"
The little boy who was rubbing sleepily at his eyes, suddenly leapt out of his seat to get a better view.
"What is that?" said the young man, also getting out of his seat.
"It's a strange fish, I wonder what it is?"
"It's a dolphin," said Campanella.
"Oh, it's the first time for me to see a dolphin," said Kaoru. "But this isn't the ocean."
Then came that strange deep voice once again: "The dolphin doesn't only live in the ocean."
The strangest thing about these dolphins was the shape they made when they leapt out of the water; placing both pectoral fins down by their side, as if standing to attention, and then lowering their head as if bowing deferentially, before diving back into the water with the same rigid posture. Each time, the invisible water of the Celestial River rocked back and forward, sending up waves of blue fire.
"Is the dolphin a type of fish?" asked Kaoru to Campanella. Her little brother was slumped exhausted in his seat asleep.
"No, it's not a fish. It's a mammal, like the whale," replied Campanella.
"Have you seen a whale before?"
"Yes. I could only see its head, and its black tail. When it spouted water, it was just like you see in books."
"A whale must be very big."
"Yes they are very big. Even a baby whale is as big as a dolphin."
"I remember now; I saw one in 1001 Arabian Nights!" said Kaoru excitedly, as she fiddled with the silver ring on her finger.
Campanella, I want to get out here! I've never seen a whale, Campanella
Giovanni was feeling so frustrated, but he bit down hard on his lip, staring resolutely out the window. There was no longer any sign of the dolphins, and just there, the river divided into two.
Dolphin (constellation of Delphinus) – (Iruka-za)
Delphinus is a constellation in the northern sky, close to the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for dolphin.
According to Greek mythology, Poseidon wanted to marry Amphitrite and sent out several searchers for her, among them a certain Delphinus. Delphinus was able to persuade Amphitrite to accept Poseidon's wooing. Out of gratitude the god placed the image of a dolphin among the stars.
Cello Voice 5 (end of Chapter 9)
Then everything went black. And then from behind, Giovanni heard that voice again; that voice like a gentle cello:
"Why the tears? Look at me for a minute."
Startled, Giovanni wiped away his tears and took a look behind. Where Campanella had been sitting there was now a kind-looking man wearing a large black hat, a gentle smile on his pale-colored face, a large book on his lap.
"No doubt you are wondering where your friend has gone. Tonight, he has gone a long way away. There is no use searching for Campanella now."
"Ah, but why? Me and Campanella were saying that we would go on together, and we'd never turn back."
"Ah, yes. Everybody thinks that way. But you can't go together. And now, for you, everybody is Campanella. Every person you meet from now, they have shared apples with you, and they have ridden together with you on this train, many many times. That's why, just like you were thinking before, you need to search for what it is that would bring people the greatest happiness, and go as soon as you can to where that is. And only when you are there, you will be able to truly travel together with Campanella forever."
"Then that is what I will do. But how do I go about finding that place?"
"Ah, I am searching for it myself. Hold on tightly to that ticket of yours. And you need to study with all your heart. I'm sure you've studied chemistry, and so you will know that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. There's nobody around today that would doubt the truth of that. That's because you can prove it by doing an experiment. But looking back through history, we see that some people once thought water was made from mercury and salt, while others thought it was made from mercury and sulfur.
Every person believes that their God is the only true God, but the actions of people believing in their different Gods has caused much heartache. So then you can debate, are our hearts right or wrong. There can never be a winner.
But if you do your research, and you conduct your experiments so that you can clearly tell the difference between real principles and false principles, then as long as you can establish a method for conducting that experiment, then there will be no difference between your principles and those of science.
But first, take a look at this book here; it's an encyclopedia of geography and history. On this page here, you see, is written the geography and history of 2,200 BC. Look carefully, it doesn't show what it was like in 2,200 BC; it shows the geography and history that people thought was true in 2,200 BC.
This one page is the same as a whole book on the history of geography. And you see, most of the things that are written here were true in the year 2,200BC. If you search for it, you'll find there is plenty of proof to back it up. But then someone thinks, hmm, something doesn't sound right; how about this? Which is what you have on the next page.
This is 1,000 BC. Most of the geography and the history has changed, hasn't it? Now it is like this. You mustn't think it strange.
It is the same, whether it be our bodies, our principles, the Celestial River, or a train; it's what we feel that matters.
Here, meditate a moment with me. Are you ready?"
The cello man lifted up a finger, and then quietly brought it down. Suddenly Giovanni saw himself, his thoughts, the train, that professor, the Celestial River, everything, light up for an instant and then disappear without a sound, and then light up once more, and disappear once again; and each time everything was lit up, an entire world, completely bare, would open out before him, be filled with its entire history, and then suddenly vanish again, with everything bare again, and then nothing.
This happened faster and faster, and then everything went back to what it was.
"Now do you see? So that means your experiment has to cover everything, from the beginning to the end of all of these fragmentary principles. That is very difficult. But it is also fine if you do it for that time alone.
Look, over there you can see Pleiades. It is up to you to break the chains of Pleiades.
Just then, a pale-blue flare rose up from the distant pitch black horizon, lighting up everything as if it were the middle of the day, including the inside of the train. The flare continued to shine as it traveled high into the sky.
"It's the Magellanic Clouds. I will do it then; for me, for my mother, for Campanella, for everyone, I will search for real, true happiness."
Biting down on his lip, Giovanni got to his feet, his eyes on the Magellanic Clouds.
"Make sure you hold on tightly to your ticket. You must continue to walk with big strides, without deviating from your course; no longer on this dream railway, but through the fire storms and rough seas of the real world. There is only one ticket in the whole of the Celestial River, so you mustn't lose it, whatever you do."
After the man with the cello voice spoke these words, Giovanni could feel the Celestial River fade far far into the distance, and he could see that he was now standing up straight on top of the grass hill, and he could hear the footsteps of Dr. Brucanero quietly approaching.
"Thank you. I was able to conduct an excellent experiment I wanted to conduct an experiment to see if I could convey my thoughts to another person from a distance in a quiet place like this. I took down all the things that you said in my noteboo
k. Go home now and rest. You should continue moving forward, without turning back, just as you made up your mind to do in your dream. And from now on, anytime you have any problems, please come and see me."
"I will continue, and I won't turn back. And I will search for true happiness," said Giovanni resolutely.
"Goodbye then. This is your ticket from before."
The professor put a green piece of paper, folded up into a small square, into Giovanni's pocket. And soon he was out of sight on the other side of the weather wheel monument.
Giovanni raced straight down the hill.
But he soon noticed that something heavy was clinking together in his pocket. In the middle of the forest he stopped running to take a look, and, wrapped inside that same strange green ticket to heaven he'd seen in his dream, were two coins.
"Thank you Professor. Mum, I am bringing you your milk," called out Giovanni, and he raced off again.
So many thoughts were racing through Giovanni's mind at once, and he was overcome by a feeling of terrible sadness, but he also had the feeling that something new was beginning.
The stars of Lyra were now far in the west, and were once again stretching out their legs as they had in his dream.
(Nb: In the earlier version, the dairy had no milk left, and so if Giovanni was to bring milk to his mother, he needed money to buy it from somewhere else. That is why he is so happy to have received money from the professor.)
Pleiades (Seven Sisters) – (Pureadesu-seidan (Subaru))
The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, is an open star cluster. It is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.
In the Bible in Job 38:31, the Lord is speaking directly to Job and challenges him, asking if he can bind the chains of the Pleiades—the implication being that Job cannot, but the Lord can.